864 police interventions since the beginning of the year.
You have to savor this number.
That means more than four interventions per day. Day after day. Week after week. Month after month. Police cars, checkpoints, arrests, raids, blue lights, press releases, success reports. A gigantic effort, paid for by taxpayers, accompanied by politicians who show determination at every opportunity.
And yet, shots are still heard in Nantes.
Still, people keep dying.
Still, drug trafficking thrives.
Something is not right.
Maybe those responsible should have the courage to ask the obvious question: What exactly has changed?
61 kilos of drugs confiscated. Hundreds of arrests. Weapons secured. Stay bans imposed. Businesses closed.
Sounds impressive. Almost like the trailer of an action movie.
But while the statistics increase, the drug dealers seem surprisingly calm. Apparently they have a remarkable skill: they disappear for a moment, wait for the next police checkpoint and then continue as before.
You could almost think that criminals are always several steps ahead of the authorities.
One or two.
Or ten.
Because if after hundreds of interventions people continue to be killed in the streets, it is no longer just a security problem. We are talking about a system that has become deeply rooted in certain neighborhoods. About parallel worlds that are hardly impressed by press conferences and martial announcements.
The truth is uncomfortable.
A single point of sale can be eliminated.
Ten points of sale can be eliminated.
One hundred points of sale can be eliminated.
But as long as the networks behind them continue to exist, it is like trying to put out a forest fire with a glass of water.
Of course, police are needed. Of course, drug dealers must be pursued and weapons confiscated. No one is asking for the opposite.
But if the same problems reappear year after year, and if the violence even increases, it is no longer enough to repeat the same figures and wait for the next big intervention.
The citizens of Nantes have the right to honesty.
They have the right to know why, despite hundreds of interventions, the shootings do not disappear.
They have the right to know why entire neighborhoods continue to suffer under the control of criminal groups.
And they have the right to expect more than statistics.
Because sooner or later, any success report loses its shine.
At least when bullets keep flying.
After 864 interventions, the situation does not look like a victory of the State.
But rather proof that the State is fighting a problem it has so far failed to truly control.
That is the real message behind this number.
And that is why it should not reassure anyone.
A commentary by Andreas M. Brucker