- Since Tuesday at noon, the French are confined to their homes for a period of at least 15 days, announced the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron.
- If they want to travel, they must print a certificate available on the government site or copy it on plain paper.
- On Tuesday in Paris, the police carried out hundreds of checks to verify that people in public space had it in their possession.
The Place de la Porte de Saint-Cloud is strangely quiet. Usually crowded, this corner of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, located not far from the Parc des Princes, seems abandoned by motorists and bikers. Those who pass by here, this Tuesday afternoon, are systematically checked by the police, wearing latex gloves, who ask them for their "derogatory displacement certificate". For a few hours now, Parisians, like all French people, invited to stay at home to avoid the spread of the coronavirus, must be provided with this document if they want to move, to go to work, to go to a doctor or walk their dog.
"Currently, we are teaching, we are explaining to people how it will happen, we are not yet going to be fined," said Commissioner Marine Bénichou, head of the regional traffic division on an interim basis. At the wheel of a white Citroën registered in Pas-de-Calais, an elderly man is checked as he takes his wife to a medical appointment. Problem: the couple has only one certificate. He does it with a simple reminder of the rules. “We must act with discernment. But tomorrow the sanctions will fall, we will be stricter, people will no longer be able to say that they did not know, ”blows an agent.
"Next time, they would verbalize me"
The vast majority of the people checked were in possession of their certificate. "This morning, the government site was bugging and we could not download it," said the driver of a white van, member of an association "which exhibits all over the world". On his vintage racing bike, Kasun, 14, is also asked to stop in front of the Sainte-Jeanne-de-Chantal church. The teenager, who had left for a run for his brother, had thought of printing a certificate. But he forgot to take his ID card with him. "The police told me that next time, they would verbalize me," he says.
[#COVID ー 19] New measures have entered into force to combat the #Coronavirus. If you have to travel, you must complete this # derogatory travel certificate: https://t.co/e5NGw6DPWw. This document can also be written on plain paper. pic.twitter.com/0AlopDq8NT
- National Police (@PoliceNationale) March 17, 2020“The verbalization, currently, is a ticket of 38 euros. But the government is going to pass this offense on to a 4th class ticket of 135 euros, ”said Commissioner Marine Bénichou. She observed that “at the start of the inspection, there were quite a few people who did not have the certificate. "And as the operation goes on, we see that many people have taken the lead, that they have printed the certificate found on the government website. Others present us with hand-written certificates. "
" It's necessary "
"Don't you have a mask?" Asks a motorist to the police, visibly embarrassed. "For the moment it is not planned," replied the officer, who was bent over at his door. "With the mask, we are less intelligible," said another police officer to journalists who questioned him. A situation however deplored by the union Alternative police. "Wearing a protective mask for the police on the ground must be systematic," says its secretary general, Denis Jacob, saying that "the police have the impression of being sent to the pipe-breaker."
Overall, the people checked on Tuesday at Porte de Saint-Cloud "are completely understanding," said Commissioner Bénichou. More than 150 operations of the same type were organized on the same day in Paris and its agglomeration on the occasion of this first day of confinement, mobilizing nearly 3,000 officials. "It's necessary," admits a cyclist, also checked. Referring to photos of Parisians agglutinated in the parks last weekend, the latter believes that there has been "far too much abuse".
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