More police to patrol high crime neighbourhoods

The French can look forward to more "cops on the beat". Interior Minister Claude Guéant has announced a new project which will put squads of police back on the streets.

AFP

Interior minister Claude Guéant made his announcement in Bobigny, a town with a reputation for crime and lawlessness. The new patrols, on foot, by bicycle and and on roller blades - are supposed to maintain contact with the population, in order to create - as Guéant put it - "a climate of security".

Already mocked by the left, Guéant denied suggestions that he was reviving the "pol-prox" - the neighbourhood police units created by the Socialist government of Lionel Jospin - and abolished by Nicolas Sarkozy, when he became Interior Minister in 2002.

Guéant says the new patrols will not become social workers. They are tasked with observing, listening, and gathering information.

Although the project won't be in full swing until September, the minister said as of May some patrols will be put in place.