The curfew fell for an hour already this Friday evening, the streets are almost deserted, yet the police vans are gathering at Place Bellecour.
The scenario is identical at Place Saint-Jean, at Georges-de-Loup and at Vaise, four stations of line D of the Lyon metro which connects the ninth arrondissement of Lyon to Vénissieux.
"The curfew has not reduced delinquency," sums up Commissioner Mathilde Bourgoin who heads this punch operation.
On this very busy line which is experiencing security problems, around fifty police forces are deployed quickly.
About twenty less than expected, because a CRS crew was called to supervise a trip by the Prime Minister, but the staff of the SISTC (Interdepartmental Service for Public Transport Safety, present in Lyon, Lille and Marseille) remains massive.
"Since the release of the first confinement, safety in public transport has been a priority for the government" recalls the commissioner, "it is a question of intervening on delinquency, pick-pocketing, snatching and assault, also to check the wearing of the mask and the certificates ”.
Barely deployed, the crew gets to the heart of the matter.
A group of seven young girls are picked up at the exit of the Bellecour station.
A few minutes earlier, a traveler sounded the alert after having his wallet stolen.
He was able to describe the young girl who skillfully searched her coat pocket before jumping from the oar.
One of the young people corresponds to the report.
The teenage girls feign astonishment but the men from the SISTC, known to be physiognomists, recognize the group.
A group of young Bosnians who roam the network on a daily basis.
They are regularly arrested for pick-pocketing.
The man who was the victim of the theft also arrives.
He is categorical: "No doubt, it is she".
The girl can only admit the facts.
As for the wallet, it has already disappeared.
She explains having launched it in the Saône.
The young girl is taken to the police station to be taken into custody.
"It's everyday," explains the speaker in civilian clothes, describing a well-established scenario based on the fact that thieves do not inspire mistrust.
"The person who is offender is that he wants to be"
At the Bellecour station, crossroads of lines D and A, one of the busiest in the city, checks are continuing.
Attendance is still dense despite the curfew.
The faces are almost all masked.
But the certificates are not all there.
The fines fall.
135 euros each time.
Employer certificates are carefully scrutinized and are the subject of a mini-survey.
We check that the company exists, that the activity has reasons to continue until late hours ... “We practice zero tolerance.
With all the communication that is currently carried out, the rules are known, the person who is offending is that he wants to be, ”says Maxime Ballandras of the DDSP.
"We are in the midst of a pandemic, our job is also to reduce it" summarizes Commissioner Bourgoin.
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More than 110,000 fines for non-compliance with the curfew since December
A young man is caught without a ticket, identity document or certificate.
He is searched.
We find on him a brass knuckle and a small knife.
He also takes charge of police custody.
A little further on, a passenger takes out his cell phone and begins to film the network controllers who issue him a report for lack of a ticket.
Tone up.
The police intervene to calm the scene.
"The presence of the police greatly facilitates our task", recognizes Laurent Garcia, head of control operations on the metro network, "they bring serenity to identity checks".
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It is eight o'clock.
The operation is terminated.
“The delinquents present on the network are now informed of our presence, explains Commissioner Bourgoin, but we will come back”.
Assessment of the operation: out of 282 checks, 19 verbalizations for non-wearing of a mask, 42 for non-compliance with confinement, one for throwing rubbish, one for insulting noise and two arrests.
