In Béarn, without major incident, New Year’s Eve was “very calm”

This was observed by the prefect of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Jean-Marie Girier, who came this Tuesday, December 31 to meet all these men and women committed to this very special evening, in the company of his chief of staff, Anne-Sophie Marcon and MP Josy Poueyto. “We come to see all those who work, volunteers or professionals, to take care of others. They are very numerous: there are more than a hundred firefighters mobilized, nearly 150 gendarmes and around a hundred police officers. Our goal is safety and security for everyone, especially on the roads. And attention, which is also permanent, on the risks of urban violence.”

Vigilance on the roads…

The police were indeed on the move. Colonel Jean Bouldoires, head of the departmental gendarmerie group, spoke of the 124 soldiers mobilized for patrols in the department, and the 27 members of the departmental road safety squadron, who notably worked from 4 to 7 a.m. morning, in two control zones on the Basque Coast (Bayonne Parma and North), and three in Béarn in the Pau conurbation (Serres-Castet, Morlaàs, Gan). Staff guided by the operational center, where three operators officiated especially for the evening. A center which usually handles 150,000 calls per year.

…and in the neighborhoods

On the police side, “around a hundred agents” were mobilized on the 64, again according to the prefect, who came to meet them at the Pau police station. The opportunity for him to recall the special vigilance that has been put in place against urban violence. “The goal is to anticipate the worst in order to be able to deal with it. Significant preparation work has been carried out. The goal was to clear the public highway of anything that could be set on fire (trash containers, sucker cars), to fly over buildings with drones to spot potential projectiles and to monitor social networks.” Moreover, as a reminder, the prefecture had issued anti-mortar or fireworks orders. “We wanted to avoid seeing what we saw on Halloween, with ambushes against the police in Ousse-des-Bois.”

Police officers also on the bridge to protect emergency services working in these areas. Like the firefighters, also widely used for New Year’s Eve. 111 of them were on call for New Year’s Eve, “but we could call more than 300, if necessary” indicated to the prefect the boss of the fire soldiers of 64, Colonel Alain Boulou. If the evening was announced as busy, the number of calls “does not reach that of the Bayonne festivals,” says a rescuer. Note that, annually, Sdis 64 must respond to approximately 150,000 requests.

Mobilized caregivers

At the Pau hospital, caregivers were also on alert. The SAMU regulation center – which manages 400,000 calls each year – expected “an increase of 10 to 20% for New Year’s Eve”. The Emergency Department, which treats an average of 40,000 visits per year, had adapted accordingly, the same for its pediatric counterpart (20,000 visits per year), which has been busy recently due to the flu epidemic.

Also note, still this December 31 but in the morning, the prefect’s visits to the Béarn and Soule food bank, to the day reception point “Le point d’eau” and to the preparation of solidarity New Year’s Eve at exhibition center in Pau.