Can tensions between Police and citizens be dissolved into deliberative democracy?
At the end of 2018, a « citizens’ consensus conference » was held in Vaulx-en-Velin on the issue of police/citizen relations in working-class neighbourhoods. The purpose of this event was to equip « ordinary citizens », especially young people, from this popular suburb of Lyon, as well as the police, to think about joint recommendations for solutions to overcome the conflict between them. This article will analyze the conditions required to facilitate as well as the outcomes of this dialogue. The authors of this article played the role of objective facilitator. This involvement made it possible to utilize multiple sources. Observer participation was supplemented with analysis of written sources, as well as focus groups and interviews with participants and facilitators in order to understand the outcomes produced. The integration of this conference into a long-term participatory action-research approach, as well as the efforts made to give to all participants the same role in the process, contributed to developing the confidence necessary for constructive dialogue. The effects of this conference are primarily cultural, leading law enforcement and (young) citizens working toward the deconstruction of their reciprocal negative preconceptions of each other. More structural effects are also evident: in the region, from targets of security policies, young people have become actors that are invited to participate in decision-making processes, even if the impact of their input on the political agenda is varied.