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The anecdote dates from more than 20 years ago but Louis Nègre, the mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer (Alpes-Maritimes), remembers it as if it were yesterday.
It still serves him today to justify the renewal of his decree on a curfew for children under 13 in his city.
When in the early 2000s, the city councilor - elected for the first time in 1995 - met an 8-year-old child in the street at a late hour and the latter explained to him that he had his parents' permission, that hits him.
It's past 11 p.m.
"But I have no time!"
, replies the boy.
That night, the mayor ponders and wakes up with the idea of imposing a curfew on his city for children under the age of 13.
Since Monday, this municipal decree is again in force.
It runs until October 31 and prohibits children from going out unaccompanied from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
If the idea came to him in the year 2000, Louis Nègre had to wait four years to be authorized to apply it.
At the time, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes broke his proposal to the administrative court of Nice, but the elected representative then won an appeal in Marseille in 2004. The Council of State imposed a duration on him and to target districts.
The "summer" season seems to him to be the most favorable for this ban on night outing for very young individuals in the most urban districts.
Three sectors were chosen: the city center (Renoir and de la Gare avenues), Marine Square and the town hall annex.
“If most parents do their job, there are still holes in the racket
,” explains Louis Nègre to
Figaro
.
Educate parents
In almost two decades, the decree has had time to take root in people's minds.
Since 2010, no arrests have been made by the police.
"We can't find one lying around!"
, is satisfied the first magistrate.
One evening, shortly before 11 p.m., Louis Nègre meets a young man who proudly hands him his watch.
Proof according to him that the measure is known.
Posters in the city come to remind her once again.
If this measure is classified in the register of security, the mayor underlines its preventive side.
“It's more to educate parents
, he justifies.
Because it's their fault first and foremost."
The latter risk a fine and a report to the public prosecutor.
“We are not a village where everyone knows each other
, insists the former senator.
Our city is very dense, with a diverse population and lots of tourists.
There can be dangerous encounters for children.”
This decree inspired other cities, such as Béziers (Gard), Asnières (Hauts-de-Seine), Lisieux (Calvados) or Cézac (Gironde).
Some mayors apply this decree up to the age of 16 to fight against delinquency.
In the tense context of the Moulins district in Nice, where increasingly young profiles are involved in drug trafficking, could this philosophy apply?
“It would not be a shot in the dark
, thinks Louis Nègre, also deputy president of the metropolis of Nice.
But over there, it's a lawless area, the decree would not really be applied...
"