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FRANCE
- TROUBLE AND THE
POLICE |
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Petty theft is endemic in
all the major cities and
along the Côte d'Azur.
Drivers, particularly with
foreign number-plates or
in rental cars with
Parisian registration,
face a high risk of
break-ins. Vehicles are
rarely stolen, but car
radios and luggage make
tempting targets.
It obviously makes
sense to take the normal precautions
: not flashing wads of
notes or travellers'
cheques around; carrying
your bag or wallet
securely; never letting
cameras and other
valuables out of your
sight; and parking your
car overnight in an
attended garage or within
sight of a police station.
But the best security is
having a good insurance
policy, keeping a separate
record of cheque numbers,
credit card numbers and
the phone numbers for
cancelling them
, and the relevant details
of all your valuables.
If you need to report
a theft , go along to
the commissariat de
police , where they
will fill out a constat
de vol . The first
thing they'll ask for is
your passport, and vehicle
documents if relevant.
Although the police are
not always as co-operative
as they might be, it is
their duty to assist you
if you've lost your
passport or all your
money.
If you have an accident
while driving, you have
officially to fill in and
sign a constat à
l'aimable (jointly
agreed statement); car
insurers are supposed to
give you this with the
policy, though in practice
few seem to have heard of
it. For non-criminal
driving offences such
as speeding, the police
can impose an on-the-spot
fine.
People caught smuggling
or possessing drugs
, even a few grams of
marijuana, are liable to
find themselves in jail,
and consulates will not be
sympathetic. This is not
to say that hard-drug
consumption isn't a
visible activity: there
are scores of kids dealing
in poudre (heroin)
in the big French cities
and the authorities seem
unable to do much about
it. As a rule, people are
no more nor less paranoid
about cannabis busts than
they are in the UK or
North America.
Should you be arrested
on any charge, you have
the right to contact your
consulate.
Emergency numbers
Fire brigade ( pompiers
) tel 18.
Medical
emergencies tel 15.
Police tel 17.
Rape crisis ( SOS
Viol ) tel
08.00.05.95.95.
AIDS information
(SIDA Info Service) tel
08.00.84.08.00.
All these numbers are
free.
The police
The two main types of police
- the Police Nationale
and the Gendarmerie
Nationale - are for all
practical purposes
indistinguishable. The
CRS (Compagnies Républicaines
de Sécurité), on the
other hand, are an
entirely different
proposition. They are a
mobile force of
paramilitary heavies,
used to guard sensitive
embassies,
"control"
demonstrations and
generally intimidate the
populace on those
occasions when the
public authorities judge
that it is stepping out
of line. Armed with
guns, CS gas and
truncheons, they have
earned themselves a
reputation for brutality
over the years,
particularly at those
moments when the
tensions inherent in the
long civil war of French
politics have reached
boiling point. Not quite
in the same league, but
with an ugly recent
history, is the separate
Paris police force
. This bunch are prone
to pulling up
"nonconformists"
- often just ordinary
teenagers and black
people - for identity
checks. You can be
stopped anywhere in
France and asked to
produce ID. If it
happens to you, it's not
worth being difficult or
facetious. The police
can also be rather
sensitive on political
issues: a few years ago
a group of Danish
students wearing "Chirac
Non!" T-shirts
against the French
nuclear tests in the
Pacific were surrounded
on their arrival in
France, accompanied in
force to their hotel and
made to change.
Lastly, in the Alps
or Pyrenees, you may
come across specialized mountaineering
sections of the
police force. They are
unfailingly helpful,
friendly and
approachable, providing
rescue services and
guidance.
Racism in France
Raciacist attitudes
in the populace and the
police are rife. A
survey on French
attitudes to race,
commissioned by the
French government and
published in June 1998,
resulted in 38 percent
of the population
declaring themselves
racist, double the
figures for similar
surveys in Britain and
Germany, and the Front
National , a
neo-fascist, racist
party, headed by Jean-Marie
Le Pen , won fifteen
percent of the vote in
the last parliamentary
elections. Support for
the party was highest in
Provence and the Cote
d'Azur, where by 1997
four cities had Front
National mayors. The
Front National's
alliance with
conservatives has led to
changes in educational,
cultural and sporting
and programmes to suit
its policies; the
party's fundamental
priority is the
withdrawal of benefits
to immigrants who have
not yet been granted
French citizenship.
However, the mood in
France altered after the
1998 World Cup victory
of its multicultural
team
and Le Pen was forced to
modify some of his
racist statements. Since
then the party has
fractured and lost
popularity (with it and
the splinter group rated
at about nine percent),
so the next round of
elections may change the
current unpleasant state
of affairs.
It will take a long
time for the warm glow
created by the World Cup
to transform France into
a racially tolerant
country, and for the
moment being black,
particularly if you are
Arab or look as if you
might be, makes your
chances of avoiding
unpleasantness very low.
Hotels claiming to be
booked up, police
demanding your papers
and abuse from ordinary
people is horribly
frequent. In addition,
even entering the
country can be
difficult. Changes in
passport regulations
have put an end to
outright refusal to let
some British
holiday-makers in, but
customs and immigration
officers can still be
obstructive and
malicious. In North
African-dominated areas
of cities, identity
checks by the police are
very common and not
pleasant. The clampdown
on illegal immigration
(and much tougher laws)
has resulted in a
significant increase in
police stop-and-search
operations. Carrying
your passport at all
times is a good idea.
If you suffer a racial
assault , you're
likely to get a much
more sympathetic hearing
from your consulate than
from the police. There
are many anti-racism
organizations which will
offer support (though
they may not have
English-speakers):
Mouvement contre le
Racisme et pour l'Amitié
entre les Peuples (MRAP)
and SOS Racism have
offices in most big
cities.
Loss or theft of credit
cards
If your credit card
is lost or stolen
you should ring your
credit card company to
cancel it. Some
companies, like Diners'
Club in the UK, allow
you to reverse the
charges; others will pay
for the call if you're
absolutely desperate. It
is very important to
cancel cards straight
away as purchases can be
made without the
signature even being
glanced at. If you don't
have the relevant number
to call, contact the
French 24-hour lines
below; they will speak
English.
Access, Mastercard,
Eurocard tel
01.45.67.53.53.
Visa tel
01.42.77.11.90.
American Express
lost or stolen cardstel
01.47.77.72.00; lost or
stolen travellers'
cheques tel
08.00.90.86.00.
Diners' Club
tel 01.49.06.17.50.
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