The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced on Monday an intensification of controls throughout France against people who carry out urban rodeos, “criminal acts that seriously injure children”, as happened this weekend in Val-d’ Hey.
Intensification of controls
A 10-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy were seriously injured while playing tag on the esplanade of their neighborhood after being hit by a motorcycle on Friday night during an urban rodeo in Pontoise (Val-d’Oise) .
“I want to say that the government has an extremely strong hand against these urban rodeos that are presented not as a positive word, as if it were a show, but against these often criminal acts that come to kill, that come to injure very seriously. women, children, we have seen it again very recently in the Val d’Oise”, stressed the minister during a visit to Marseille.
“I asked the police and the national gendarmerie for this month of August to intensify these controls and I would like 10,000 control operations to be carried out throughout the national territory starting today to fight against these criminal acts of people who take the road on their way. ”, he added.
Up to five years in prison
On June 8, a 19-year-old died after being hit by a motorcycle during an urban rodeo in Rennes. The minister defended his policy of firmness by recalling “that for two months there have been 8,000 police and gendarmerie operations” in France.
They were settled, according to him, with 1,200 arrests, “unprecedented”, and 700 seizures of motorcycles, quads or cars.
A 2018 law has strengthened the fight against these motorized “rodeos” and provides for penalties of up to five years in prison for their perpetrators. Noting that “Parliament wishes to strengthen the legislative arsenal and be able to better convict” perpetrators, the minister stressed that he was “in favor of aggravating criminal means.”
Source: BFM TV
