Police officers during an operation to check exceptional travel certificates, in front of the Barbès metro station -
Thibaut Chevillard
New containment has been in effect for nearly a week to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
In Paris, the police, who observed a slackening of the population of the district last weekend, intends to increase the number of certificate checks.
But unlike the first confinement, the streets of the 18th arrondissement are far from deserted: shops are allowed to open and many people have a certificate to go to work or to go to class.
At the entrance to the Barbès-Rochechouart metro station in Paris, a cigarette seller hides a bag full of packages behind a wall.
He glances around the street, worried about the presence of dozens of police.
On this Tuesday afternoon, the police are crisscrossing the neighborhood.
Objective of the operation: to ensure compliance with containment measures.
"It is important that people follow the instructions so that this measure is as effective and as short as possible", explains the central commissioner of the 18th arrondissement of Paris, Emmanuelle Oster.
However, she underlines, “we found this weekend that people had difficulty here, to get into the nails.
"
The pedagogy is over.
"We are now entering a phase of checks and verbalization," continues Emmanuelle Oster.
It is 5 p.m., when the office is out.
There are people in the street, in any case "much more than during the previous confinement", notes an agent present.
“More people are working and have a certificate to go out.
»The snacks are open, as are the telephone shops along Boulevard Barbès.
Dealers are hiding in the surrounding streets.
The crossroads is congested.
It's not quite a normal day, but almost.
"We must go home now"
Among the crowd, the police particularly target people "who stagnate, regroup" or do not wear a mask, explains Commissioner Emmanuelle Oster.
A small tolerance seems nevertheless granted to smokers.
In front of the Barbès brewery, the police check a student who has finished classes and is going home.
She takes out her iPhone and tries to find her certificate.
In vain.
" It did not work ?
», Asks the official.
"You have to generate it, but then you have to think about downloading it", he explains.
After being invited to repeat the operation - successfully this time - she resumed her journey, without being fined.
"She is in good faith, I saw that she had tried to do it, and she was well on the way to her home," said the official.
Police officers check the certificate of this student - Thibaut Chevillard
A few meters further on, it is a man who is checked on leaving work.
He hands his certificate to Emmanuelle Oster.
Everything is in order.
"We must go home now," says the policewoman with a smile.
" Yes !
My family is waiting for me!
He replies, laughing.
“It is a district which, culturally, is used to living in the street, observes the commissioner.
Even though there are fewer people than normal, economic life has not stopped.
There are therefore more reasons than during the first confinement to be outside.
But after shopping, you have to go home, ”she insists.
" It's not me !
"
Checks continue at the checkpoint.
Cap on his head, a high school student takes out a blue pocket from his backpack, from which he extracts a folded sheet that he hands to the police officer.
"There is the tampon, but now you have to fill it!"
The young man promises that he will do it as soon as he gets home.
“No need to do it every day,” the official told him.
Suddenly, two men run by.
" Thief !
The police chase the suspects and intercept them a few meters away.
" It's not me !
Shouts a teenager in a red jacket.
But the victim is categorical.
"We have the bag, the testimony of the victim: a beautiful flagrante delicto", notes Emmanuelle Oster.
Thefts with violence, street vendors, trafficking of all kinds… The sector does not have a good reputation.
And the presence of numerous pedestrians "favors small traffic".
"The first confinement had greatly dried up delinquency because there was no longer anyone in the street," said the commissioner.
But we know that this drying out will be less important this time.
"
With a very active virus in Paris and Ile-de-France, these controls will multiply in the coming weeks.
Emmanuelle Oster assures him: “We will repeat this type of operation if necessary.
The idea is to adapt to everyday life.
"
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Covid 19
Confinement
Society
Police
Coronavirus
Paris