The French government will give police officers a long-sought raise after a strike called in the wake of the “yellow vest” anti-government protests, which have strained security forces already on high alert after years of jihadist terror attacks.
The accord was announced just before midnight Wednesday by unions after two days of talks with officials, and a one-day strike which saw police stations virtually shut as officers carried out only emergency duties.
They have complained of exhausting hours of patrols and chronic under-investment in equipment which have stretched departments to the breaking point and taken a heavy toll on the force.
Last month an officer who led an “angry police movement”, which emerged after the 2016 firebombing of a squad car with two officers inside, was found dead at her home in a suspected suicide.
For many officers, the violent clashes with rioting “yellow vest” protesters in Paris and other cities on recent Saturdays, and the huge manhunt for the gunman who attacked a Christmas market in Strasbourg last week were the final straw. Read more