Police chief for Paris suburb must be fired
There may be better security in Paris just now, but in the suburbs, if anywhere, there's definetely still chaos, especially if the police turn their members into sacrifices, as appears to be the case so far, when two officers were savagely beaten by Muslim rioters (via IRIS Blog):
Update: more on this from The Scotsman (via Tim Blair):
Youths wielding iron bars beat up two riot policemen patrolling a rough housing project in a southern Paris suburb, police officials said Wednesday.It's no surprise when police are too jelly-spined to act convincingly, and bueracracy dictates that they cannot act properly either. It's mainly the police chief's fault in this case, for not providing backup, and no doubt for also tying the officers hands (if they'd tried to defend themselves by running the thugs over, it's possible that they would've ended up on the receiving end of a prosecution). I think a dismissal is in order here.
One officer was hospitalized with a double fracture of the skull during Tuesday night's incident in Corbeil-Essonnes, a police source said. His colleague reportedly sustained facial and body injuries.
Police were called in to disperse the gang of up to 30 youths who stoned the unmarked police car as it patrolled the area, police officials said.
The police got out of their car, were encircled and attacked. Some of the youths were armed with iron bars, according to reports.
No arrests were made following the incident, police said.
"These youths fear nothing," a police union official said on LCI television.
Update: more on this from The Scotsman (via Tim Blair):
A PARIS policeman was in hospital with serious head injuries last night after youths attacked him and a colleague in an incident that renewed fears about violence and crime in France's tinderbox suburbs.Thank goodness. Also, I'm very impressed by how Sarkozy's made special visits to victims of Muslim violence in France to cheer them up and listen to their story up front. This is the third time I know of when he's made a special personal visit to the victims, something that a lot of politicians should also follow as a role model. That's how to impress upon the public.
The police captain suffered a double fracture of the skull and almost lost an eye after he and his driver were lured into a trap and assaulted in the suburb of Corbeil-Essonnes, south of Paris, said a police union official.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the interior minister, was to visit the officer in hospital after meeting senior staff to discuss the attack, which came the same day as a leaked report by a top government official that warned of soaring crime in his area.
"I will do everything to find those responsible. We will find them, one by one. Not one of them will remain unpunished," said Mr Sarkozy, condemning Tuesday's late night attack as "a veritable lynching".
David Barbas, national secretary of the SNOP police union, said the two were stoned while driving in an unmarked car. "They got out to see who had done it when about 20 youths set upon them," he said.
The officer's life is no longer in danger after surgery, he added.
