Police ‘receipt’ plan scrapped

RECEIPTS for people stopped by the police are to be dropped.

Radio station RTL reports that Interior Minister Manuel Valls himself was not strongly in favour of it, police unions were “fiercely opposed” and the agency Cnil, charged with correct use of data, was worried about the potentially inappropriate collection of data that could ensue if police kept a record of whom they had handed receipts to.

Nonetheless, the station said, discussions were ongoing with the police and the government still intended to apply François Hollande’s election promise of reforming police stops. Some accuse police, notably, of the délit de faciès - that is carrying out excessive or inappropriate stops for questioning (and possibly a search) just because of a person’s race.

RTL said avenues still being explored included reinstating the numbers on police uniforms (removed in 1985) or by putting their names on them. It is also suggested police may have small cameras installed in their uniforms to record stops.

Police have also been told to stop addressing people they question with the informal tu.

Police in the UK issue receipts to people they stop and Mr Valls had said he was studying how this works. However French police said the policy would make their lives difficult, as it would, for example, hamper them questioning people where there were legitimate suspicions but the person had already been stopped recently.

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