Red Alert Politics
written by Kaitlyn Schallhorn
Thursday August 29, 2013
Marseille, France’s second-largest city, is looking to an interesting savior to fix its blight.
A group of city residents are distributing a petition entitled “Will it take Batman to save Marseille,” to draw attention to the increasing poverty and crime rates in the city – something they believe that Paris, the nation’s capital, has failed to do.
“They promise us more police, even suggest sending in the army … Next, they’ll be talking about calling in Batman!” spokesman Jean-Baptiste Jaussaud, who also said politicians “lack insight” into the rising crime in the city, told France 24.
“When it suits them, politicians are suddenly concerned. Then half of them go back to Paris, the other half forget,” he added.
The petition calls on Marseille citizens to “take their own security and not simply outbid opportunistic communication and political meningitis,” while also criticizing the local police for the “lack of depth and perspective” on Marseille’s plight and urging the city government to take action.
According to the group’s Facebook page, supporters of the petition have already collected more than 2,000 signatures. The Daily News reported Tuesday that the petition was started after 61-year-old Jacques Blondel was shot dead while trying to stop a robbery last week.
While the request for DC Comics’ Caped Crusader is obviously farcical, the petition still makes the point that residents don’t just need more police officers who will do nothing – they actually need a force to fight crime. According to MSN.com, a quarter of Marseille lives below the poverty line, and so far this year the city has seen 13 gang-related killings.
Marseille had previously earned the nickname “Europe’s most dangerous place to be young” because of its poverty and crime rates.
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