France ASBO's

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Agenais"]I had to smile today, after writing to say what a

peaceful place we are living in, the Gendarmerie were out in force

around town today, armed to the hilt,  shotguns at the

ready.......Will have to see what the jungle drums say about such a

show of armory.[/quote]

Ours seem to be in the middle of a charm offensive, distributing sweets

and patting small children on the head. I'm not sure which I find the

more disturbing.

It is just over a year since our local police station closed down. This

was done due to "lack of crime requiring police attention" and did

wonders for the price of property around here. Since then (aside from

the scuffles outside the nightclub already mentioned) reported crime has dwindled even further.

My personal view is that previously the local plods patrolled on foot

at least some of the time and people told them things. The gendarmerie

(being allergic, I am told, to fresh air) stay in their cars and no-one

tells them anything, so less crime has been reported and the figures

look just peachy. The word is that the local Oberfuhrer may be

requiring them to actually scuff some shoe leather in the New Year, so

maybe we shall see some change.