French officials said nearly 200 investigators at the Paris police prefecture would review footage of looting after the Oct. 17 protests, as the government seeks suspects and compensation for damaged businesses.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the review would begin Oct. 19 and cover images and video. His figure applied to the Paris police prefecture. The work comes amid a broader police response to the protests.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said investigators could use surveillance footage to trace suspects’ routes through public transit and examine fingerprints and DNA. She cited an earlier case in which camera footage helped identify suspects after an assault on a trainee officer.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that an officer identified only as Bruno used social media posts as leads. He described checking where an incident took place and identifying a victim before referring a possible crime to investigators.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said he intended to use facial recognition to compare online images with photographs in the Traitement d’antécédents judiciaires (TAJ) database. The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL), France’s data regulator, says TAJ holds records concerning both suspects and victims. An entry does not establish that a person was convicted.
Lecornu said existing civil-liability procedures could make people convicted of causing damage pay for it. He also outlined planned support for affected shops and efforts to speed insurance payments, which he said would help businesses restart and protect jobs. Those payments were proposals, not completed assistance.
Lecornu said many people at the Oct. 17 demonstrations had protested peacefully. He identified Nov. 5 as the date of another demonstration.
