Bordeaux Reports Progress on Curbing Youth Crime, Challenges Remain

Frédérique Porterie assures that the first interim assessment made on January 6 on the first three months of the GLTD is "positive": 110 arrest procedures, 73 prosecuted persons, 35 convictions after immediate appearance, four persons indicted and three in pre-trial detention, one under judicial supervision, 25 prison sentences, 10 bans on staying on the territory, and five in the Saint-Michel district, and sentences of up to one year in prison and 5 years of ban on staying on French territory, reports France info.

Other positive points: closure for six months of two establishments: a tea room and a mobile phone resale shop linked to drug trafficking, theft and receiving stolen goods. Delinquency has decreased by 14% over the period, particularly armed attacks, comments the public prosecutor, adding that the feeling of insecurity has also eased in the district, particularly on the Pontets street and the Gensan street near the Porte de Bourgogne and the Quai des Salinières. "I hardly receive any more letters from worried residents," she assures.

However, the GLTD has a flaw. "This device has already proven itself, particularly in Toulouse. It is effective, but it has a flaw: that delinquency is shifting elsewhere," explains Philippe Roland, a police officer from the Fo 33 union. Olivier Beau, from the Saint Mich’ collective, notes that there is no longer the constant back and forth of dealers day and night on the Pontets street but has also noticed an increase in dealers on the Faures street. "I no longer go shopping in the groceries on the street, because some individuals are high and sometimes threatening," he testifies.

"They accost me in the evening when I close the pharmacy. The pharmacy is also the place where some come to get subutex (a drug dispensed on prescription to treat drug addiction, editor’s note) and where they come to treat their injuries after a settling of scores between rival gangs," says the pharmacist in the central square. He claims that the problem is still there and that drug trafficking is still active.

Under the influence of mafia networks, unaccompanied minors, especially from the Maghreb, including Morocco, commit acts of delinquency in exchange for a place in a squat and drugs. "This problem has not yet been solved, it is national and political," comments Frédérique Porterie, "and it is not specific to Saint-Michel."