Do police officers have a hard tooth against restaurateurs?
In any case, this is what several professionals think, member of the Canal 19 collective, which brings together around thirty businesses in the Villette basin (19th arrondissement of Paris).
Four of them were administratively closed by the Paris police headquarters.
Luce Namer, boss of one of them, does not take offense.
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“
My establishment has been closed for nine days,
” she exasperates. “
He had been checked on the evening of the music festival, that is to say an evening when it is very difficult to enforce the sanitary rules. The police told me that the customers had to remain seated, which we made sure of afterwards,
”insists the owner of the 25th East. The police make a new appearance before closing, at 1:30 a.m. The customers got up and wait at the counter to pay; the police note what they interpret as indoor dancing. “
It is possible that some customers have started to move while waiting to pay,
” sighs Luce Namer, “
but that's it.
"
"
I don't pity them
"
The same incomprehension animates Louis Lemahieu, manager of the restaurant Bancs Publics.
The administrative closure of his establishment runs until July 15, after breaches of health protocol were noticed in his establishment at the end of June - customers who consume at the counter.
The restaurateur assures him, the police did not issue a formal notice of his establishment before it closed.
The administrative closure of a restaurant or bar must, however, be preceded by a written warning, recalls Pascal Mousset, president of the national group of independent hotels and restaurants (GNI) in Île-de-France. "
We have canceled a dozen administrative closures in court since the beginning of the year, precisely because of the absence of a written warning
," he explains.
This union representative, on the other hand, firmly contests the supposed inflexibility of the police in the face of restaurant owners. “
I can say, from the feedback I received from the field, that there are few administrative closures. Even too little,
”he believes. According to the Paris police headquarters, which reacted on Twitter, 420 administrative closures have been declared since the start of 2021 - and not 1000, as the Canal 19 collective affirms. "
The health protocol is very clear,
”adds Franck Delvau, president of the Union des Métiers et des Industries de l'Hôtellerie (Umih) Île-de-France. “
I do not pity the restaurateurs who do not respect him, and who cast shame on the profession.
"
In a context of resumption of the epidemic, pushed by the Delta variant, the representatives of the profession are more horse than ever on the respect of the health protocol.
“
It is out of the question that we close again;
we are going bankrupt if we begin to cast doubt on the health situation in our establishments,
”continues Pascal Mousset.
The situation is all the more fragile for the catering sector as Bercy has started to gradually decrease the aid granted to the sector during the health crisis (such as short-time working) in order to push them towards the resumption of activity.
Consultations with the police and the town hall
Faced with the incomprehension of the restorers of the canal, the 19th century town hall nevertheless wishes to position itself as a mediator and provides for consultations between the actors of the restoration concerned by the closures, the 19th arrondissement police station and the municipality itself.
This round table, which according to our information is due to be held this week, will aim to clarify all the questions which at this stage oppose restaurateurs and the police.
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"
There are misunderstandings,
" one believes in fact on the side of the town hall of the nineteenth arrondissement. “
The objective is therefore to clarify the protocol with regard to noise pollution, the health protocol, but also the rules for occupying public space. We must allow the different actors to cohabit in good understanding.
"
