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World

French police protest working conditions after officer shot by furloughed convict

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    French police officers wearing shirt showing police as targeting as they gather next to the French justice ministry to demand better working conditions in Paris, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015. Police across France protest what they say are increasingly unsafe working conditions, pointing to the example of an officer critically wounded by a convict who never returned from a prison furlough. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) (The Associated Press)

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    Thousand of French police officers gathering next to the French justice ministry to demand better working conditions in Paris, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015. Police across France protest what they say are increasingly unsafe working conditions, pointing to the example of an officer critically wounded by a convict who never returned from a prison furlough. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) (The Associated Press)

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    French police officers holding flares gathering next to the French justice ministry to demand better working conditions in Paris, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015. Police across France protest what they say are increasingly unsafe working conditions, pointing to the example of an officer critically wounded by a convict who never returned from a prison furlough. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) (The Associated Press)

PARIS – French police officers are protesting what they call increasingly unsafe working conditions, after an officer was critically wounded by a convict who had not returned from a prison furlough.

A few thousand officers gathered Wednesday on the Place Vendome in Paris, waving union flags and sending up orange smoke from flares. The crowd fell silent as an announcer addressed the justice minister in the name of their injured comrade.

The shooting hit a nerve among officers feeling strained after a particularly tense and high-security year in France, which started with deadly extremist attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher market.

Similar protests are planned around France. The prime minister planned to address their concerns later Wednesday and President Francois Hollande promised to meet police unions next week.