Mr. Macron has tended to attribute deaths at the hands of the police to the regrettable errors of individual public servants. Part of the problem is Mr. Macron’s relationship to the police. The spate of protests rejecting Mr. Macron’s various social reforms — most recently of the pension system — has been countered by a heavy use of the police. During the worst of the pandemic, police officers were the frontline executors of Mr. Macron’s stringent lockdowns and curfews. Now that the police forces are at the center of a national controversy, it is no surprise that Mr. Macron’s hands are tied.

Source: New York Times July 01, 2023 23:26 UTC