Bapsa police come to the aid of homeless people, boulevard Haussmann -
Thibaut Chevillard
While negative temperatures have been recorded for several days in Paris, the marauding of police officers from the Bapsa is intensifying.
This police headquarters brigade has been helping homeless people since 1954.
The agents bring a little comfort to the homeless by offering them hot drinks and sleeping bags, and try to find them places of lodging for the night.
The snow that fell during the night covers the sidewalks of the capital.
This Wednesday afternoon, temperatures are flirting with negative values when the Bapsa police start their marauding.
Raphaël and Frédéric have loaded, in the trunk of a Renault Trafic, thermos of coffee and tea, water, cakes, soup and blankets which they will distribute to the homeless in Paris.
“There aren't many people outside.
With this time, they are much to take shelter in the subway entrances, in the car parks or in the tunnels of Châtelet or of Defense ”, explains Raphaël, young police officer originating in the south of France, who joined the brigade three years ago.
“These people need help and we can give it to them, we feel we are useful.
"
No district of Paris is spared by poverty, not even the beautiful districts.
Behind the Garnier Opera House, on Boulevard Haussmann, the police noticed two men lying on an air vent.
"What's your little name?"
»Frédéric asks one of them.
"He's not small, my name!"
», Answers the man who, moreover, does not know« any more exactly »his date of birth (perhaps 1979).
The police offer a hot drink, a blanket, masks, and inquire as to where they will be spending the night.
Three times a day, for about thirty years, Bapsa agents have organized the transport of the homeless to a 125-bed accommodation and reception center for homeless people (Chapsa) located in Hauts-de -Seine.
"It's very difficult to leave people in the street"
In 2020, around 32,000 people boarded the Bapsa bus, Porte de la Villette, to spend the night in this center which depends on the Max Fourestier hospital in Nanterre.
"But at the moment, the Chapsa is closed because of a cluster," blows Captain Michel Noullet, deputy head of the brigade for five years.
Finding accommodation places often turns into a puzzle even if, with the activation of the extreme cold plan, several additional reception places have been opened, such as gymnasiums.
The officials then find beds primarily for women, the elderly and the sick.
"A young person in good health is very likely not to have an accommodation place because he is not considered a priority," confides Michel Noullet.
For the police, it is very difficult to leave people in the street.
"
The vast majority of the fifty or so Bapsa police officers volunteered to join this service created 65 years ago, after Abbé Pierre's call.
It was in 1955 that the prefect of police launched the first “vagrant collection teams”.
They will take the name of "brigade of assistance to the homeless people" in 1968. At the time, the agents were especially in charge "of bringing the tramps to take a shower, even without their agreement", notes the captain Noullet.
In 1994, the crime of vagrancy and begging was repealed.
A turning point for Bapsa.
"The repressive side no longer exists, the agents concentrate on the social aspect of their missions", he continues.
“We are nonetheless police officers and we can intervene in any public highway incident.
"
A homeless couple settled at the foot of a hotel in the 8th arrondissement - Thibaut Chevillard
Return to Boulevard Haussmann.
Raphael and Frédéric cross the street, to meet a man lying, too, on a duct popular for the hot air it provides.
A coat serves as a blanket.
“These two, I had seen them before.
This is the first time, ”notes Raphaël.
The two agents make contact with him and take the time to chat with this man wrapped in a parka, who needs warmer pants and shoes.
“Adidas” in size 40, he asks, laughing.
"We try to come back tomorrow or the day after tomorrow", assure him the police officers who note down his identity and the address of the corner of the sidewalk where he is.
“This will help us later,” explains Frédéric.
The name is not very important.
Some give us fake ones.
However, we must know where we can find them.
"
It takes them time.
But little by little, the Bapsa police officers manage to forge links, sometimes friendly, with the homeless they encounter during their marauding, or who take the bus from the Porte de la Villette.
“When they've been in the street for a long time, they know the Bapsa,” observes Raphaël.
They have a little apprehension when you arrive the first time.
But after seeing that we weren't there to oust them, a relationship may start to develop… or not.
We are not there to take action, but to listen to them and support them.
The police, when they are not marauding, go to meet associations and develop close relations with them.
A preventive work that sometimes allows solutions to be found.
"A lot of people sleep in their car"
Recently, Raphaël managed to find a volunteer assignment in a recycling center in the 14th arrondissement in Claude.
This homeless man, encountered at random during a marauding, worked at one time at Alcatel.
One day, he had a motorcycle accident on his way home.
Months of hospitalization, the loss of her job, her family that has moved away.
And Claude found himself on the street.
This new activity "socializes him", remarks the police officer.
"It helps him to find a schedule, to get up, to re-enter the world of work.
Because in this universe where there is misery, there are some small satisfactions.
In 2020, the Bapsa police officers managed to find permanent accommodation places for several hundred people.
A little later, the brigade received a call from 115 asking them to go to rue de Berry, a stone's throw from the Champs-Elysées.
Residents contacted the Samu social about a homeless couple who settled at the foot of a closed hotel.
“When it's cold, a lot of people realize that there are homeless people in the street who must be helped,” observes Michel Noullet.
The man and woman are lying on a mattress, bundled up in a blanket.
"Was it last night?"
Raphael asks them.
It is difficult for the police to establish contact with these people who do not speak French.
After making sure they are okay and taking their identity, the police set off on a new mission.
"Increase in precariousness"
Unfortunately, the activity of Bapsa agents is not about to decrease.
Captain Noullet, who joined the brigade 16 years ago, observes "an increase in precariousness" in Paris.
“A lot of people sleep in their cars because they can't afford accommodation.
The officer noted in particular that the number of women continues to increase in the streets of the capital.
“There are 20 to 25%,” he explains.
Whereas they were only 10% before.
"Temperatures in Ile-de-France should remain cool for a few more days.
In his office, Michel Noullet can only wonder "how these people are holding up".
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Society
Social
Poverty
Homeless
Paris
Police
Cold
Solidarity