Police maintain their occupation of Paris working class suburb

An occupying force of a thousand police officers will remain in the largely immigrant suburb until Sunday, according to Michèle Alliot-Marie, the minister of the interior. The riot police, deployed since Tuesday, have firearms and are equipped with full riot gear, teargas, flash balls and at least two helicopters with powerful searchlights.

On Thursday afternoon the authorities reported some 60 people being held in custody. Seven have been sentenced on charges related to the rioting. The Pontoise criminal court reported prison sentences ranging from 3 to 8 months for three young adults.

Sarkozy spoke at length on Thursday about the situation in Villiers-le-Bel. In the morning he addressed a gathering of some 2,000 police personnel. In the evening he gave a prime time TV interview, which was also devoted to economic issues.

In his speech to the police, Sarkozy said he wanted the police and gendarmerie to be “the most modern in Europe.” He said it was necessary to develop “non-lethal” weapons such as Taser pistols and a new generation of flash balls with a range of 40 metres, and promised to supply helicopters to search for weapons allegedly stashed on the roofs of high-rise flats.

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