Police

Police

authority, octagonal hats, guns

authority, punishment, criminals

blue, arrest, donuts

blue, parking tickets, corruption, protection

cops,crime, protection, traffic tickets

donuts, crime, courage

fear, crime, ticket

few, hard-working

law enforcement, criminals, judicial system

law, order, interrogation

necessary, cannot be given too much power

officer, brutality, car

officer, shooting, ticket, arrest, handcuffs

pigs, necessary, abusive

safety, bureaucracy, inconvenience, sirens

sirens, car chase, traffic tickets

sirens, handcuffs, law,

sirens, safety, rules

tickets, traffic lights

tough, important, armed

US, uniform, gun

violence, racism, peace

bleu, surnuméraire, nécessité

brutaux, hormones, utile (quand on est la victime)

discipline, gouvernement, justice

donuts, bavure, protection

flic, uniforme, casquette, contrôle

institution,
contraignante,
injustice

inutile

képi bleu, nécessaire

loi - autorité - sécurité

ordre, sécurité, lois

présent, méfiance, danger

protection, immigration, bavure

protection, sécurité, dangereux

répression, ordre, lois, respect

sécurité,

sécurité, autorité, répression

violence, contrôle, radar

violence, dangereuse, sanguinaire

Discussion

Hi,

I was very surprised when reading the responses from the french students to this word. In America, children are taught from a very young age that the police are there to help us. They are also often very friendly. The french students, however, emphasized how dangerous and blood-thirsty the cops are. Do french citizens fear the french police? Are there any laws that protect citizens from the cruelties that might be imposed by cops?

 

Also, both US and french student referred to cops as blue. Is the entire uniform blue or just the kepis?

I noticed that concerning the police, both the American responses and the French responses were similar. However, it seems that the French responses are a little bit more negative than the American responses. Is there a large problem with police violence and corruption in France?

Also, the American students mentioned parking and speeding tickets as being very associated with the police, but I saw no mention of tickets in the French responses. In America, it is very easy to get a parking ticket or a speeding ticket from a police officer, and since most people don't commit serious crimes, getting a ticket is probably the most common fear people have about the police. Do police officers not give out parking and speeding tickets in France?

Hey guys!

One of the most common words that came up in our responses was 'siren'. However, none of you ever mentioned sirens. I thought this was a little odd because I feel like I can't go 2 days without hearing the extremely loud and annoying siren of a cop car. So, of course, sirens are the first thing I think of when someone says police. Are police sirens not as frequently heard in France? Or are they less obnoxious? Also, I thought it was really funny that some of you used the words 'donut' and 'blundering' because one of the stereotypes that we have here about cops is that they are a bunch of donut eating nitwits. You see that stereotype in a lot of our movies. Is it the same way there?

A lot of you had negative responses to Police, with words such as repression and dangerous. Has this always been the view in France or is this a recent development, perhaps in reaction to the 2005 riots?

Je ne pense pas que les français aient particulièrement peur de la police, mais les policiers ("flics" en langage courant) ne sont pas populaires. Il arrive souvent que nous ayons des amendes pour excès de vitesse ou pour un mauvais stationnement, mais je n'en ai pas peur: c'est juste pénible!

Il est vrai que l'on voit davantage la police comme répressive plutôt que dans un rôle d'aide, mais je ne sais pas à quoi c'est dû. Et pour les sirènes, nous n'avons pas les mêmes en France, elles ne sont pas aussi impressionnantes, et je ne les entend pas souvent.

Dernière chose, concernant l'uniforme, il est bleu foncé, du pantalon à la casquette.

I noticed that "bavure" was mentioned when describing the police. What kind of errors occur? Do the police arrest the wrong people? Are the overly eager to arrest someone that they don't care if they are arresting the right person? In America, we have laws that protect this from happening to citizens. If a person is arrested, the police are given 24 hours to charge the person, who they arrested, with a crime. If they do not find a reason to charge the criminal, then they are forced to release them.

La police sous tous les cieux, a le même visage, un visage dur et imperméable. Tant qu'elle doit protéger le régime politique en place, elle se nourrira de violence et de sang. En france, la police a pris la vilaine habitude d'appliquer la politique de ''deux poids deux mésures''. Ici, elle caresse, là-bas, elle glisse dans la chair humaine, puisqu'elle se dit que ces ''salopards'' ne sont pas d'ici. Je ne sais pas trop comment elle se comporte aux USA.