国际英语新闻：Violence tests Sarkozy gov't security policy

The overall crime fell by 0.86 percent in 2008 compared to 2007 but the rate of armed robberies rose by more than 15 percent and the violence between gangs soared sharply by more than 117 percent over the period, according to official figures.

"The society is more violent today. It is the authority's failure," Manuel Valls, a socialist deputy, was quoted by Europe 1.

"We came back to the police of the 1960s, a police cut off people, hierarchical and centralized. We need a new approach," Valls added.

Mucchieli, a sociologist, said the government needs to give more interest on the neglected social areas and offer wider opportunities for people living in the poor and marginalized outskirts to play a role in the social life.

"This type of event is not new..and always prompted hopeless and superficial political comments. The fundamental (reason of violence) is simple, we like it or not, French society excludes a scale of its citizens from the social life," Mucchieli noted.

"The police will never stop alone the delinquency and by investing in stones rather in humans. Renovating buildings and leaving humans within the same social status and psychological distress is an aberration," he added.

But, to Brice Hortefeux, the Interior Minister, the picture is not so grim. He is still upbeat on the authorities' ability to restore order and guarantee security.

"Security is for all. There is neither neglected territory nor forgotten people. There's no future for hoodlums and delinquents because in the end the public authority always wins," he said.