Château-Rouge district, 18th century Paris, Monday, 4:30 p.m. A street vendor plunges his hand into a large bag stored on a makeshift cardboard stall. Then he hands a handful of peanuts to a passerby. Two plainclothes policemen in jeans, sneakers, basketball jersey and cap then take out their orange armbands: “National police! We will draw up a report and seize your merchandise! They exclaim. The seller turns pale. The teeming rue Dejean suddenly empties. "The strongest weapon of our unit, it is the effect of surprise", warns Bruno, the head of the Brigade sauvettes et fakes (BSC) of the police station of the XVIIIe arrondissement.
A little further, rue des Poissonniers, the agents seize an isothermal bag filled with safous, these plums originating in the Congo basin.
“A sales proposition is enough for us to challenge.
To be effective, we have to type very quickly, very hard and all the time ”, specifies the sergeant-in-chief, tortoiseshell glasses on his nose, retro salt and pepper mustache and gray beret on his head.
"You made yourself a
Tiger Brigades
look
, Bruno!"
»Teases a policeman in cross-dress in front of the police station.
Paris (75), June 07, 2021. A police officer from the brigade seizes safou, rue des Poissonniers.
LP / Philippe de Poulpiquet Philippe de Poulpiquet
Launched in 2017, the BSC is a one-of-a-kind unit, the only one in France specializing in the fight against street scams.
This phenomenon, which has become massive in the 18th arrondissement, poisons the lives of residents and traders who have established themselves in the street.
So much so that in 2016, an association in the neighborhood, exasperated, obtained the conviction of the City of Paris and the State for lack of means to maintain public order.
A decision confirmed on appeal, and ratified in 2018 by the Council of State.
“The congestion of the street is such that it is impossible to move around freely without being jostled.
It's unbearable on a daily basis, ”testifies a resident of rue Dejean.
“A neighbor, in a wheelchair, no longer leaves his home on Saturdays after 11 am.
He cannot pass!
"
A catalyst for delinquency
Noise day and night, the aggressiveness of some vendors, sometimes violent brawls, insalubrity ... "The population is extremely, and rightly, shocked by this form of expropriation of public space", recognizes the central commissioner of the 18th century, Emmanuelle Oster. In the field, street selling is a catalyst for delinquency. "It autogenerates delinquency, in itself, and by its
modus operandi
," specifies the officer. By permanently occupying the space, street vendors allow other delinquency phenomena to hide behind them: pick-pocketing, collars torn off, handbags stolen from a terrace… ”
This clutter of public space attracts multi-card delinquents, who sell on the street for themselves or for others, and indulge in other types of mischief as the opportunity arises. "You cannot fight against delinquency in the 18th century if you do not deal with all the phenomena of occupation of the public highway in parallel," continues Emmanuelle Oster. My predecessor had perfectly analyzed it, and that is why she set up this specialized brigade, a year before my arrival. "
Arresting street vendors in the act is not the only mission of the BSC: it is responsible for determining, whenever possible, if there are networks and dismantling them.
"It is a question of observing the phenomenon from all angles", summarizes Emmanuelle Oster.
After numerous spinning mills, the brigade arrested four Afghans last week and seized nearly 20,000 packets of cigarettes, stored in two squats in Seine-Saint-Denis, which supplied the Place de La Chapelle and the Gare du Nord.
"I have already seized sex toys, a Katana and even a funeral urn"
In the field, the strategy is to occupy the space permanently, failing which the salespeople return to their positions immediately with their backs turned. The police weapon: a simplified procedure, authorized by the prosecution, which makes it possible to issue a ticket and seize the goods. The twenty members of the BSC draw up 50 to 60 simplified reports per day. "But the sideline is not the prerogative of the brigade: all the staff of the district - or who are made available to the 18th century - are mobilized, insists Emmanuelle Oster. When I go out on patrol, it also happens to me to do in flagrante delicto some street sales ”. In 2020, despite two confinements, 21,400 reports were drawn up and 114 tonnes of goods seized, for this district alone. Since the start of the year, nearly 11,000 tickets have already been filled, and 105 tonnes seized!
This time, it is counterfeit cigarettes that are seized by the agents of the brigade at La Chapelle.
Philippe de Poulpiquet
Everything is sold on the sly.
"I have already seized sex toys, a Katana and even a funeral urn", Bruno smiles.
Each 18th century district has its own specialization.
In Château-Rouge, we mainly find counterfeit products, products prized by the Gabonese and Cameroonian communities, and dangerous cosmetics, such as lightening creams.
"With the health crisis, we have observed an upsurge in basic necessities: food, shower gels, toothbrushes, etc." indicates Emmanuelle Oster.
Near the subway entrances, there are wild fruit and vegetable stalls.
Shoes at Marx-Dormoy.
Aromatic herbs, including mint, and counterfeit t-shirts in Lariboisière.
Tobacco and medicines in Barbès, La Chapelle and Gare du Nord.
The second-hand clothes avenue de la Porte de Montmartre.
Everything that interests tourists at the Butte Montmartre: Eiffel towers in plastic or dangerous metals, wooden figures, braided bracelets, grilled chestnuts, water bottles when it's hot, umbrellas when it rains ...
Fractures of the jaw, fingers, nose ...
And then there is the "misery market", where you can find anything and everything, straight from the asphalt, for three francs, six sous: underpants, a box of ravioli, a bit of cheese. blister pack, an orphan shoe… “Bands go into the trash cans of supermarkets, then resell the fresh products that have expired. It is misery that exploits misery, ”sighs the former gendarme Dominique Lapprand, co-founder of the Association for the fight against illicit trade.
Around 4:50 p.m., a white van hastily parked on rue Marx-Dormoy.
“This truck follows us to quickly remove the goods, once they are seized, while waiting for the passage of the dumpster.
It helps calm people down, ”says Bruno, who has been leading the BSC since its creation.
In the field, his team is regularly attacked by disgruntled salespeople, or even jostled by the crowd.
"There have been fractures recently: of the jaw, but also of the fingers or the nose," he laments.
The brigade calls out to a salesman.
During her interventions, she is often mistreated by her targets or by the crowd.
Philippe de Poulpiquet
The agents know it well: you must not destroy the goods on the spot. A fortiori if they are foodstuffs. "The population can be very aggressive towards us, because it considers that we take the bread out of their mouths", regrets Emmanuelle Oster. “We are often told that they do no harm by selling vegetables. But go tell that to the greengrocer, who pays his taxes and charges and who is suffocated by this unfair competition. In March, the BSC dismantled a network of street resale of fruit and vegetables, which was supplied ... from a wholesaler in Rungis, in the black market.
Still in rue Marx-Dormoy, the police arrest a man who is dragging an old purple shopping bag. Inside, several kilos of raw meat skewers ooze in the sweltering heat of that June afternoon. "This man was going to supply wild barbecues", explains Bruno. “A break in the cold chain, meat whose provenance we do not know stored in plastic supermarket bags… Of course, we can sometimes have the impression of emptying the ocean with a teaspoon. But with this seizure, we saved 100 people from getting sick tonight. "
The residents have clearly felt the effects of this hard work. “In the winter of 2019-2020, the situation had become acceptable again, thanks to their efficiency,” greeted a resident of rue Dejean. “Unfortunately, the health crisis has passed this way. The first deconfinement was terrifying: we returned to a situation almost identical to the one that existed before the creation of the brigade… ”