Sunday, April 14, 2013

French Gangster Escapes Prison


French Gangster Escapes Prison

See here for the article.

Modern-day French Gangster Redoine Faid broke out of Sequedin Prison in Lille, France today.  Faid allegedly held five men at gunpoint, four of which were guards.  He then was able to blast his way out of five prison doors using explosives.  He then got a getaway car, which he later set on fire and got another car.  Right now authorities are on a European-wide manhunt for this gangster. 
                 The main question is how did he escape?  The answer to this goes back to previous problems the prison already had, mainly overcrowding.  Already the prison was overcrowded, and on top of that the design of the prison made it particularly difficult to watch prisoners.  Another question that was raised was how did he obtain these explosives and firearm?  This question is still unanswered but police suspect it occurred during the visiting hours, possibly by his wife or ex-wife.  
                To me this seems like a Hollywood-style prison break.  And indeed it could be, as Faid mentioned in his book that he modeled many of his robberies after Hollywood movies such as “Heat.”  Still, Hollywood or not, I think that this is a huge error on the French police’s part.  There should be far better surveillance on the visitors to the prison and what they bring in with them.  Also, overcrowded prisons should relocate their inmates to different facilities so that the overcrowding does not become an issue.  Finally, high-priority inmates like Faid should have a close watch on them so that events like this won’t happen.  This really is an embarrassment to the French police and I hope that this gangster can be caught again and sent back to a more secure prison.  Comment your opinions below.

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