Paris police told to tone down sirens

New Paris police chief Michel Delpuech has warned his officers to cut down their use of sirens as it was a nuisance for citizens.

In a circular to officers the Préfét de Police said he was well aware of the daily demands made upon the police and the needs of their job but warned that sirens were not necessary for all their work and should be restricted to situations where they were needed.

Mr Delpuech said that during the present state of emergency “residents complain about the nuisance caused and the climate of anxiety produced by over-use of sirens” whether they were from police or fire or ambulance services.

Tasks such as relieving other officers or heading for missions did not need a siren to be used and he said that he would, if needed, introduce controls to cut down abuses.

However, Jean-Claude Delage of police union Alliance told Le Monde: “Police are not children and they use sirens to get to situations where lives may be in danger.”

He added that such comments from the police chief annoyed officers on the ground who were already under pressure from the terror threat, organised crime and shortage of personnel.