By Steve Macko
The fear that some French cities and suburbs are sinking into U.S.-style urban violence has French authorities debating about whether or not they should increase police firepower. It is not unusual for some police patrols in some high-rise suburbs of major French cities to come under attack by a hail of stones from disgruntled youths. More alarming is the seen increased use of guns, which are strictly controlled in the country.
The headlines from French newspapers scream out: Suburbs: State of Emergency! As well as: Suburbs: The Gun Law. 152 incidents involving firearms have been reported in the first eight months of 1995, according to the Interior Ministry's intelligence service. Now, the number 152 may just seem like a slow day in the City of Chicago, but in France ... that is unusually high. The Interior Ministry's report said, "The use of firearms has become considerably more common in districts long affected by urban violence ... particularly in the Paris area."
In late October, a French policeman was shot in the face and critically wounded by a gunman who used a large caliber gun in the western Paris suburb of Mantes-la-Jolie. A French police expert in suburban violence said, "We cannot say there are more weapons around, but they are being drawn more easily. They are being used by youths who are increasingly outside society and have nothing to lose." That description sounds remarkably like what is happening today in American cities.
The French government has responded in a few different ways. Police in six areas throughout the city of Paris will be issued flak jackets to wear. Police will also be given special guns that shoot rubber bullets and will also be given faster cars.
During the recent nationwide search to find the people responsible for a wave of terrorist bombings in France, the security crackdown has cut the crime in the Paris region by ten percent. But the crackdown has also generated many complaints from youths of North African descent. They said that they are being singled out by police. Again, this sounds remarkably like the kind of complaints that blacks make in the United States.
Another similarity betweeen France and the United States is that there is a high-crime rate in grim high-rise districts of Paris, what are called "project buildings" in the U.S.. These buildings, just like their American counterparts, were hastily built in the 1950's and 1960's. These buildings are mostly occupied by immigrants who have recently come to France.
In the United States, particularly in Chicago, high-rise project buildings are starting to be dismantled and torn down in favor of low-rise buildings. Comparisons are also being drawn to burned out sections of New York City. A recent French newspaper article said, "We are being told that French suburbs are not the Bronx. This is true, but it is also true that the Bronx is less worse off now than ten years ago, unlike French suburbs, which are becoming worse by the day