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.
