• Roms waiting for the next ATM victim
    Life in Paris & France,  Money,  Police

    For the Paris Police Dial 17

    When an emergency arises in Paris or you want to report a problem to the police, dial "17". Today a security guard at the Banque de France helped me after an incident at the BNP Paribas Beaumarchais, Bastille. After speaking with the police on the guard's phone, I noticed the number on his screen "17". I will never forget that number and used it about an hour later. By coincidence the same three teenagers who hassled me earlier at the ATM inside the BNP Paribas were leaving the line one metro train the same time as I walked off. I dialed "17".

  • Life in Paris & France,  Police,  Practical Info

    History of Lost and Found-Objets Trouvés in France

    The Lost and Found department of the Paris police department is one of the oldest in the world, over two hundred years old. The history of Paris’ objets trouvés in French is no longer available on the Préfecture de police’s website.is recorded already in 1367. Charles, Duc of Normandy, decreed that hotels and auberges were to take care of lost property until the owner returned to claimed it. During the Middle Ages and under the Ancient Regime (1500s to end of 1700s – after Renaissance to French Revolution), lost items were announced publicly for three Sundays in a row. If no one claimed the item(s) they became the property of the King…