Following an incident on Rue de Strasbourg over the weekend in which a homeless man died, the police have taken a position on the criticism levelled at their intervention.
Officers were called out on Saturday at around 12.30pm because a man was sleeping in the baking sun. He was a homeless man already known to the police.
From the officers' point of view, no critical health condition was apparent at that point, and an ambulance was accordingly not called.
At around 6pm, police were called a second time by the same woman, after the man had become unresponsive. Officers and rescue services were sent to the scene, the police bulletin states. The 75-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Contrary to what has at times been reported in the press, the bulletin adds, this was not the same patrol that had been called at midday, and no one was advised against contacting the press.
The police bulletin also reminds members of the public that if a medical emergency is suspected, the right number to call is 112.
The judicial police are investigating, and the public prosecutor's office has ordered an autopsy.
