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To fight against drug trafficking in the halls of buildings, the Ministry of the Interior allowed the police a year ago to issue fixed fines for people squatting in these common areas.
In a building of a residential tower in the suburbs of Le Havre (Seine Maritime)cigarette butts and narcotic-smelling plastic pouches strewn on the ground leave few doubts: these common areas seem regularly squatted. scared, rare are the inhabitants to want to talk about it. “I can’t answer you”says one of them. “I won’t say more, because I’m risking my skin”, fears another. Several residents live in anguish and want to leave the building. In an attempt to combat this problem, the State has given the police an additional tool with a fixed fine of 200 euros, reduced to 150 euros if paid within 15 days and increased to 450 euros.
In Roubaix (North)a patrol spots three young people on the passageways of a building and issues them a fine. “It’s useless“, judges one of the young people. This is not the opinion of the police. “You give them a fine on the spot, it’s more practical than taking someone to the police station and starting to take reports”, Judge Commissioner Abdelkader Harounehead of the Roubaix police station. Near Rouen (Seine Maritime)the inhabitants judge that “it’s a little better anyway, but it’s not that yet“. According to the Ministry of the Interior, 3,550 fines have been issued throughout the territory.