French police union plans to sue state over riot response

France’s Alliance Police Nationale union has announced plans to sue the state, alleging that inadequate equipment, training and conflicting instructions put officers at risk during nationwide unrest. RT reported on October 22 that the union was also demanding an investigation into the police chain of command.

The announcement concerns planned legal action, not a reported court ruling or finding of government wrongdoing. The union’s allegations centre on the handling of demonstrations that brought around 550,000 people onto the streets last week over rising living costs and worsening school conditions.

The report describes looting and fires during unrest in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux. It cites Le Monde as reporting injuries to 997 police officers and gendarmes, seven of them serious.

Union challenges operational decisions

Union representative Stanislas Gaudon, speaking on Thursday, October 22, blamed successive governments for what he characterised as two decades of inadequate political resolve on security. Alliance alleges that authorities helped create the conditions for violence while failing to support officers deployed to contain it.

The union has directly challenged Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez over allegedly contradictory directions from senior police officials. Its demand for a chain-of-command investigation seeks scrutiny of how operational decisions were made and communicated.

The government has defended the police response to the unrest. The report does not give a specific government reply to Alliance’s allegations about training, equipment or conflicting orders.

Arrests and police tactics under scrutiny

Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Wednesday, October 21, that approximately 2,500 people had been taken into custody, more than 900 referred for immediate prosecution and 174 jailed. Authorities have also introduced curfews in some areas.

Police conduct faces a separate legal challenge after a 17-year-old protester lost a hand in a grenade explosion in Saint-Étienne. His lawyer has filed a complaint against Nuñez concerning the use of riot-control weapons. That complaint does not itself establish legal responsibility for the injury.

The protests began in September over staffing shortages and deteriorating conditions at a high school near Paris, before expanding across the country. Students have demanded more education funding and opposed public spending cuts, arguing that the government is giving military expenditure priority over schools.

Further demonstrations are expected over the weekend. The General Confederation of Labour, known as the CGT, and other unions have called for a nationwide strike beginning November 5.