In one of the most contentious starts to a municipal mandate in recent French history, the newly elected far-left mayor of Saint-Denis, a migrant-heavy suburb north of Paris, has announced a progressive disarmament of the town’s municipal police force.
That has prompted dozens of officers to request transfers and raised fears of a staffing crisis in one of France’s largest and most challenging suburbs.
Bally Bagayoko of La France Insoumise (LFI), who swept to victory in the first round of the municipal elections earlier this month, has also faced a formal government warning after suggesting that local authority staff not aligned with his political project would “naturally” depart.
Bagayoko, who now leads the commune of approximately 150,000 inhabitants in Seine-Saint-Denis (often referred to alongside neighbouring Pierrefitte), made the disarmament pledge during an appearance on France 2’s “4V” programme on March 25.
“We are going to enter into a process of disarmament, but this is not an immediate measure,” he stated.
He specified that the first step would be to remove lanceurs de balles de défense (LBDs) – rubber-ball launchers long criticised by LFI as “very difficult to control and sometimes with dramatic consequences”.
Firearms would remain “for the moment”, he added, while a new “doctrine” was drawn up “piano piano” – step by step.
The announcement has provoked an immediate and unprecedented reaction within the municipal police.
According to multiple reports, between 70 and 90 of the force’s approximately 150 officers have already requested transfers or indicated they intend to leave.
The director of the municipal police, appointed under the previous socialist mayor Mathieu Hanotin, is also reported to be departing, along with several of his deputies.
One police source told media outlets that officers felt they were being sent into the field “with a pen and a whistle”.
Police unions have described the move as “the most beautiful gift to the criminals” and have urged officers to “flee LFI-run communes”.
The controversy deepened when Bagayoko declared that civil servants “are above all people who respond to a political command”.
He added that those “not in phase with the political project” would “necessarily leave” through natural mobility, although he insisted this was “not a question of throwing them out”.
The remarks were widely interpreted as a veiled threat to purge or side line staff opposed to his agenda.
🚨🚨🚨😳😳😳Nous touchons à l’abject, au répugnant ! A Saint-Denis, sans aucun complexe,
Bally Bagayoko annonce que tous ceux qui travaillent dans le secteur communal et qui n’ont pas voté pour lui devront partir ! 😡😡🤢🤢
J’attendais de voir ses premières décisions, avant… pic.twitter.com/mZGFFiZ0ga— Alain Weber (@alainpaulweber) March 24, 2026
Yesterday, the French Minister for Public Action and Accounts, David Amiel, sent a direct letter to Bagayoko reminding him that “no municipal authority may legally suggest that the situation, assignment or continued employment of local government agents could depend on their real or supposed adherence to the political orientations of the municipal executive”.
Any attempt to side line agents for political reasons would be “tainted with illegality” and could be suspended or annulled by the administrative courts, the minister warned.
Government sources described such moves as potentially amounting to moral harassment or even criminal discrimination.
The developments have drawn sharp criticism from across the political spectrum.
Eric Ciotti, newly elected mayor of Nice, publicly offered to welcome Saint-Denis officers into his own municipal police force, stating that “the police in Nice needs reinforcements”.
Other right-wing figures have accused LFI of prioritising ideology over public safety in a department long plagued by high levels of crime and urban violence.
Some left-leaning voices have also expressed unease at the speed and symbolism of the policy.
Bagayoko has sought to reassure residents and officers, insisting that Saint-Denis will retain “a strong, proximity-based municipal police” and that any changes will be carried out in consultation with staff and the public.
He has framed the initiative as part of a broader “new dynamic” that he hopes will serve as a national laboratory for LFI policies.
LFI’s approach in places such as Saint-Denis is no accident. It is the direct result of a deliberate electoral strategy that has seen the party concentrate its efforts on France’s most migrant-heavy suburbs, with people often from North and sub-Saharan Africa and frequently of Muslim background, to form a growing share of the electorate.
In Seine-Saint-Denis, LFI has built a solid base by emphasising social justice, anti-discrimination rhetoric and criticism of “systemic racism”, particularly within the police.
LFI spokespeople routinely frame urban violence and clashes with police as the product of poverty, exclusion and institutional racism rather than individual criminality.
By positioning itself as the defender of suburban youth against “racist” policing and by championing causes such as the Palestinian issue, LFI has consolidated support in high-immigration districts where traditional socialist and Communist votes have collapsed.
