With an unprecedented sling movement, an unprecedented response. The Directorate of Public Order and Traffic (DOPC) of the Prefecture of Police of Paris summoned Monday, September 27, twenty-three officials from the service of central traffic companies (SCCC) to the premises of occupational medicine after a series of sick leaves which paralyzed this unit since the end of the previous week. Even more surprisingly, the latter were sent to the service of statuary medicine by the administration, in vans signed – “Like thugs packed on the public highway”, complains one of them. On Monday, the Prefecture of Police indicated that, “As the administration has the right and usually practices”, she had simply summoned “About twenty officials” in order to have the regularity of their sick leave checked – an initiative considered to be a ” provocation ” by interested parties.
The episode comes to offer a climax to a situation that has worsened since Friday 24, date on which a first round of sick leaves had been filed by officials. “Exhausted, under constant pressure from the hierarchy and close to burn-out” according to one of the police officers of the service. The next day, several dozen more followed, reaching over the weekend nearly half of the staff of this service, or about 150 police officers including those who were already arrested. In some of the four companies, as in the third, the movement affects almost half of the staff.
Little known to the general public, the SCCC is responsible for making traffic flow in the capital, in particular by ensuring the “staking out” of official processions, ministerial trips and the dozens of demonstrations organized daily in Paris. Its officials, recognizable by the fluorescent stripes on their uniform pants, are also responsible for intramural roadside checks, and carry out speed and alcohol control checks. “Our service is essential in the daily life of the inhabitants, notes a policeman, but it is considered to be of little prestige. This lack of consideration, the lack of respect for our privacy and the contempt of some of our superiors have made dozens of colleagues crack. “
“On-call without compensation”
Beyond the mood swings of recent days, the situation within the SCCC has been deteriorating for months, against the backdrop of tensions linked to the decline in membership. From 650 in approximately 2013, the service has now grown to 350 civil servants, while its missions have multiplied. The dispute arises above all around the thorny question of hourly cycles, which has long plagued relations between police officers and their superiors. Because the current system only allowed for a weekend off every six weeks, SCCC officials had high expectations of a technical committee originally scheduled for October 6, during which the hypothesis of a change of cycle, with longer shifts in return for days of rest allowing a more serene family life.
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