# Police, Injuries and Justice Topic: [[Topics/France 2026 Student Protests and Riots/France 2026 Student Protests and Riots|France 2026 Student Protests and Riots]] · Related analysis: [[Users/@tomaspueyo/Post Analyses/Post Analysis - tomaspueyo on Why France Is in Chaos (2026-10-24)|Pueyo, claims 7, 9–12]] ## Scale (ACLED, Oct 19) - Clionadh Raleigh: about 66 demonstrations a day vs a 20.5/day average (>3×), 45 days into the cycle. - 24.2% of events were riots vs a 1.9% median; the only recent higher episode was Nahel 2023. - More than 400 arrest events vs 138 in 2023. - "Small towns" stayed peaceful; big-city escalation came from "smaller groups". ## Who was arrested | Date | Figure | Source | |---|---|---| | Oct 5 | 5,060 gardes à vue; **87% minors** (4,406), 13% adults (654) | Justice ministry | | Oct 7 | 6,629 arrests in total | Nuñez (TF1, BFM) | | Oct 18 (Sat) | Paris: 557 gardes à vue, **77% adults** | Laure Beccuau via Le Parisien ⚠️ | | Oct 17–18 | Nationally: 2,331 gardes à vue, **70% adults** | Darmanin via Le Parisien ⚠️ | | Oct 17–18 | 2,397 arrested, "près de 90%" aged 18 to their thirties | Europe 1 (police sources) | | Oct 17–18 | Marseille: 101 arrested (74 adults, 27 minors); 80% for theft with damage | Marseille prosecutor ⚠️ | **Profiles.** - **Le Parisien (police sources), Paris only:** "membres de l'ultra-gauche, ou des pilleurs d'opportunité — venus de toute l'Île-de-France — qui représenteraient respectivement 20 et 80 %". No ethnic breakdown is given. - **Hubert Gimenez (Unité union):** two profiles, "jeunes issus de quartiers sensibles" and ultra-left black blocs, with no percentages. - **Laure Beccuau:** could not confirm a massive ultra-left presence. ## Injuries | Date | Police/gendarmes | Students | Education staff | Source | |---|---:|---:|---:|---| | Oct 7 | 761 | 215 | 89 | Nuñez | | Oct 14 | 937 | 248 | 149 | Lecornu (Senate) | | Oct 17–18 | +~1,000 (7 serious) | n/a | n/a | Europe 1 | - Nuñez (Oct 7): "Du côté des élèves, dans la très grande majorité des cas, les blessures sont accidentelles ou en raison de jets de projectiles ou mortiers d'autres manifestants." - **Serious injuries to minors (franceinfo):** - a 15-year-old's hand torn off in Lens (stun grenade) - a 16-year-old "éborgné" in Tours; an officer was "mis en examen pour violences aggravées" - a 14-year-old's jaw injured in Val-d'Oise - **Investigations:** 18 IGPN investigations by Oct 7 and 36 by Oct 14, 4 for mutilating injuries. Stun grenades were suspended. The Alliance union sued the State (TF1). ## Arrest rates and prosecutions - **Marseille:** 101 arrests against the prefecture's 8,000 rioters, which prosecutor Nicolas Bessone called "conformes" (≈1.3%), and his own 1,800–3,000 looters (≈3–5%) ⚠️ (my arithmetic). The prefecture's 30,000-looter figure was disputed by Bessone. - **2023 riots:** arrests ≈ 8.5% of rioters (Senate). - **Oct 5:** 1,802 prosecuted, 1,376 alternatives to prosecution, 790 dropped, 14 pre-trial detentions. - **Oct 19 (Darmanin):** >80% prosecuted, "dizaines" of pre-trial detentions (13 in Marseille). About 70% of those held in Marseille were referred for trial. - Police union official Jean-Christophe Couvy expected "réponses très light" (Europe 1). ## Bills - **PJL n° 952 (2025–26)**, filed Sept 16, 2026 (Nuñez, Darmanin, Rist): repairing damage from violence and degradation in public space. It predates the riots. - **RIPOST law**: tougher penalties for carrying firework mortars. Pueyo says it was approved "just before the strikes" ⚠️ (the ministry page was not fetched). - **Assemblée member's bills 3299–3305** ⚠️ (not checked).