French writer France Cole has called on her country’s Interior Ministry to send French police officers to Morocco for specialised tactical training, pointing to the Kingdom’s experience in securing major events and managing large crowds.<\/p>\n
She made the appeal on Friday in a sharply worded open letter to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, posted on X. The letter criticised how police responded to unrest that broke out across several parts of France on October 17, when shopping areas were vandalised, stores looted, vehicles set alight and municipal buildings damaged.<\/p>\n
Cole pointed to the role played by Moroccan security services in backing security arrangements for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which she noted ended without notable incidents. Learning from that expertise, she argued, could strengthen the field readiness of French forces.<\/p>\n
The letter also relayed the account of Jerome Gromon, a Reims-based shopkeeper whose store in Paris was wrecked and looted. Gromon said staff were evacuated and emergency services called, but that after waiting about 20 minutes they were told the services were swamped with calls and that they should fend for themselves.<\/p>\n
“A man was about to lose everything he had spent years building, and your police’s answer was: sort it out yourselves! This is scandalous.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The crisis has also reached the political level. Nunez reportedly offered his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron on October 18, but Macron declined to accept it. The following day, the minister told France Inter: “I am responsible for everything that happens on the ground.”<\/p>\n
Cole questioned whether the minister could effectively oversee security operations, arguing that his pledge to take direct command on the ground was not enough to reassure the public. Her letter came as France prepared for new demonstrations scheduled for Saturday, amid fears of renewed unrest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
French writer France Cole urged Interior Minister Laurent Nunez to send police to Morocco for crowd-management training after riots on October 17.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[5816,5817,5814,5815],"class_list":["post-7927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news","tag-emmanuel-macron","tag-paris-2024-olympic-games","tag-france-kol","tag-laurent-nunez"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t