suburbs

AK-47s in the suburbs: police “don’t want to die for a crappy wage”

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:06:35 +0200

La Cité des 4,000 in La Courneuve. Photo posted on Flickr by "Linkef".

A police van travelling through the north Paris suburb of La Courneuve came under fire from Kalashnikov automatic rifles on Sunday. Luckily, no-one was hurt.

The use of AK-47s against police officers takes violence in the Parisian suburbs to a new high. In response to the attack, a company of the notorious CRS riot police and around 40 extra officers were sent to the area to reinforce the local forces. Two of our Observers - a resident and a police officer working in La Courneuve - give their views on the deteriorating situation.

Singapore, an urban model for the French suburbs?

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:13:37 +0100

One of our Observers in Singapore wonders if the urban set-up there — which he says preserves an almost crime-free society — could also work in the French suburbs.

Gautier describes himself on his profile page as "a Frenchman in Asia; a tolerant traveller but not without values".

In Singapore, 81% of the population lives in "HDB", social housing which is similar to what's known in France as HLM (housing at moderated rates), although in Singapore the flats can not only be rented but also bought with aid from the state. There are 23 HDB zones, each of which houses between 50,000 and 230,000 people (on average 150,000). A one bedroom flat is around 45 square metres and is rented at €536 per month, and a four bedroom is 110 square metres with rent of €976.

Singapore is a country with a low crime rate: 715 offences per 100,000 residents in 2007 (in France for example, there were 3,600 per 100,000, and that included only crimes against property). There were only 19 murders and 750 robberies reported by the city state in 2007, while the population, 25% of which are immigrants, is 4.8 million. It's an interesting statistic in a country where, while the majority of people are of Chinese origin, there's a strong Malaysian and Indian minority (42.5% people are Buddhist and 14.9% Muslim). There are four official languages (and eight commonly spoken).

So how does it work? I live in Bishan, a relatively small HDB zone (67,400 residents). Letterboxes are intact, there's no graffiti on the walls, no burnt-out cars, no security guards in the supermarkets. This peace and quiet is a big part of the local landscape.

Next to tall buildings, there are grassy islets. There are plenty of small businesses nearby, rather than being grouped in big shopping centres, although they also exist. Everything you need is on your doorstep — the doctor's surgery, pharmacy, bank, library, leisure centre, mosque and temple. The police station (which has two or three officers) closes for the night between 10 pm and 6 am. But the "zero tolerance" principle is not forgotten — every criminal act faces punishment."

Would you like to contribute to the France 24 Observers too?

Gang wars hit French schools

Ségolène Team Observers — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 09:51:01 +0100

A new twist in gang violence at a school in Parisian suburbs. A secondary school headmaster at Garges-lès-Gonesse was molested by a dozen youths who had burst into his school to beat up a pupil. Our Observers in the school say the violence stems from ordinary rivalry between different council estates.

Youth in Muette de Garges council estate, which faces the secondary school, arrived armed with metal rods, and immediately started hunting down a pupil from a rival council estate. The headmaster was aware that his student was threatened and had hidden him in his office. But that did not stop the youths who stormed into the offices and attacked both men. The headmaster had pinned the pupil to the floor to protect him. After the punitive attack, the headmaster was briefly admitted into the Gonesse hospital, where he was treated for bruises, before he returned to his school.

This incident occurs after French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited a school in the Parisian suburb Seine-Saint-Denis, where youth had also staged a similar punitive attack a few days earlier. The French leader announced policing and legal measures to stem gang violence. He called for three-year sentences for gang members.

"Police blunder" in Paris suburbs: an officer's perspective

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:38:20 +0200

On Tuesday we published video footage of police brutality against a youth in the northern Paris suburb of Montfermeil. A police unit chief, who worked in the suburbs for ten years, tells us how his colleagues were "scared to death", and considers the chief of police's proposition of being filmed on the job.

Video footage of police brutality in the Paris suburbs

Ségolène Team Observers — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:19:27 +0200

The Paris suburbs, branded a hotbed of violence since the 2005 riots, are again in the spotlight since footage of a young man being beaten by the police emerged on Monday.

Posted by Rue89. Police violence begins at about 42 seconds into the video.

The video was filmed on the evening of Tuesday 14 October by Ladj Ly, a local resident who is also a member of the directors' group Kourtrajmé Productions, which created the controversial video clip by French DJs Justice, set in the scene of supposedly yob-ruled violent suburbs. The video was filmed on rue Picasso, in the heart of the Des Bosquets estate, Montfermeil, an impoverished area of the northern Parisian banlieues (suburbs), known by the international press for their repeated clashes between residents and the police. This time, the police were chasing 20-year-old Abdoulaye Fofana, suspected of having taken part in the vandalism of a police car a few hours earlier.

About 42 seconds into the video, we see the police strike a young man several times. According to the independent news website which published the video, Rue89, the man was also beaten before the camera started filming (read the full story in French). On Sunday it was announced by the local prosecutor that the affair was under investigation by the independent police complaints commission (Inspection Générale des Services).

We asked a specialist of the area, who works namely in Des Bosquets, to comment on the affair.

Ultra violent video clip set in the Parisian suburbs

Julien — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:03:01 +0200

A video clip released by the French electro group Justice has caused controversy in the country for its aesthetic depiction of street violence. Attacking women, beating up old ladies and glassing bar-owners is all part of the glamorous storyline. If they were looking for attention – they got it.

The video clip for "Stress" was directed by Romain Gavras, son of the famous director with the same name. Artistically speaking there’s no dispute – it’s a success. The brutal and realistic atmosphere of the clip however leaves the viewer feeling perturbed. Do these images offer a candid view of the troubled Parisian suburbs, or merely add fuel to an already raging fire in the name of selling albums? The group’s record label, Ed Bangers Records, says that the artists, who are not products of the suburbs themselves and certainly not socially sympathetic, don’t want to explain their reasons behind the choice and claim to have no “communication strategy”. So we showed the clip to young people from the suburbs themselves. Here are their reactions.

Riot photos circulate from phone-to-phone, but not online

Julien — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:49:58 +0100

By Team Observers

The confrontations in the troubled suburbs north of Paris seem to have come to an end. Photos of the rioting are being sent from phone to phone by Bluetooth or MMS - as they were during the 2005 riots. But this time, the images are harder to find online. Participants are more cautious with the material after realising it could lead to their identification by the police. Here are some photos and a short video taken on Monday night, that were sent to us by MMS today.

Post your questions to our contacts in the area: surveillant Sarcelles, Pierre, Anissa.