Gers: “We are all very shocked”… Fire at a police officer’s home revives fear of home attacks

The awakening was particularly brutal at the Auch police station. “What happened is unacceptable. We are all very shocked,” tells us Daniel Barbé, deputy departmental delegate of the Un1té union. Saturday, shortly after 6 a.m., the home of a police officer in this town in Gers was completely ravaged by flames. Multiple outbreaks of fire, cans of gasoline found on site... For the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, this is an “intolerable criminal act”. According to him, the first elements of the investigation seem to show that the official was targeted because of his “profession”.

“The agents did not necessarily think they were safe, but the Gers remains a rather calm sector. Here, there is a little delinquency, a little drug trafficking. In large cities, vigilance must be even stronger,” continues Daniel Barbé. If his union reminded agents to be careful, he explains that “we must not fall into psychosis either”. “We know that our profession is not loved, that reprisals of this type are possible. Unfortunately, it’s part of the job. »

“Things are developing in a negative way”

But it is the unprecedented aspect of the attack that is worrying. “Things are developing in a negative way. This is the first time that such an act has occurred in the department,” warns Daniel Barbé. Today, the path of reprisals remains favored. “It’s very possible. It is a criminal act targeting the home of a police officer, it is not a coincidence,” insists the trade unionist. However, caution remains in order. “There is an ongoing investigation, it is currently impossible to make a direct link with the operations carried out regularly to maintain this tranquility in Auch. »

The targeted agent had indeed been the subject of threats in the past, including tags targeting him by name. But pressure and verbal intimidation unfortunately punctuate the careers of many civil servants, recalls the deputy departmental delegate of the Un1té union, who is awaiting a very firm legal response to dissuade future actions. He also recalls that one of the demands of this union is the systematization of the anonymization of procedures in order to prevent the identification of police officers in judicial files.

A profession constrained to discretion

The victim police officer will now be able to count on the help of his department head, explains Michel Chaballier, first deputy secretary general of the Union of National Police Commissioners (SCPN). “There is first an administrative aspect, with the filing of a complaint, the procedure which will be initiated,” he explains. At the operational level, if the investigation confirms professional targeting, management must take stock with the person concerned to find out if they want another assignment. »

According to recent data transmitted by the Ministry of the Interior to 20 Minutes, 124 police officers were injured off duty in 2023, and 215 in 2024. For the year 2025, 160 injured civil servants were already recorded in mid-September. For the representative of the commissioners, the State must imperatively review its copy concerning the functional protection of its agents. “The administration still too often leaves our colleagues to fend for themselves when choosing a lawyer. They regularly have to put their hand in their pocket to pay for it. However, this support should be automatic. It is the least we can do to guarantee total protection to targeted civil servants. »