To be honest I don’t think that a lot of criminal behaviour is to do with ‘class ‘ some folk that people would consider lower class actually have a strong moral compass, and others who would be considered middle/ upper class can be evil bar stewards with a misguided sense of entitlement
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I’m not liking the events, obv, I’m liking that you put the article here.
My son was at Champions League final in Paris. The details he has told me about the local police and local residents was chilling. LFC fans get bad press generally, but the abuse they got from the tear gas frenzy police was abhorrent and totally undeserved. Shame on you Paris. Hope the so called independant enquiry gets to the truth, but hey kinda doubt it!!!
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Not being funny @Stella but if you have been here for 50 years why is your French so ´basic’ (for want of a better word) ?
Possibly because I’m getting old… 
I call it basic, but I manage well enough in whatever situation I find myself in… it’s not necessarily correct, but it’s quite understandable…
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Have you lived in France for fifty years Stella? Or is that the time that you have been coming to France
@Lizzie1
First came as a young bride and fell in love with the country, it’s people and it’s way of life…
visited as often as we could until we finally achieved “the dream” 
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That’s what I had gathered, that you had only lived here recently but then Cats post made it sound like you had lived here for over 50 years
This is one response…doubtless there will be others. I’ll post as and when…
Apparently tear gas or a baton charge are the only ways the French police can move a crowd.
A horse or a dog can be pretty effective
Interestingly, there has been a petition NOT to use horses… albeit in UK… in order to stop horses being forced into dangerous situations.
Frankly, I hate to see or think of any animals forced to face a crowd of humans…
I don’t know what the answer is to crowd-control, but hopefully animals can be left out of the equation.
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I agree with your comments. As a former CID Officer with a northern police force, (which incidently
supplied officers to assist overseas forces in Hong Kong, Kenya, Trinidad and believe it or not Commissioners to the London Police for many years)
I was seconded to the French Gendarmerie at Lyon in the 70s to work with and assist the Police International (Interpol).
I found the French Police respectful. and very capable despite not having the level of police trainIng as it was in the UK . The French police were never soft with ignorant bullies and I believe, rightly slapped down
very quickly the sick minded people that we had to endure in the UK
In my honest and humble opinion too many people who have unsympathetic opinions and possibly have skeletons in the cupboard, and rely too much on forums such as this to voice silly and stupid opinions.
If you have ANY problem with ANYTHING just as in the UK ask a French Gendarme, you will be surprised at the lengths they will go to assist you
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I got talking with a chap last week. Typical middle aged man talk, I began by saying how England has changed so much I no longer recognise it, and France has many admirable qualities which have long gone in UK.
His reply was interesting: France has changed too, he said. The right to manifest, peacefully, if you disagree with something, is being eroded. The police have always been present at protests, and have always been sensible, in his and his fathers experience (he is now a grandfather himself).
He and his father, and many of the older generations are becoming scared to protest, because the police are using strong-arm tactics indiscriminately. He has seen innocent, peaceful protesters, old men and women, loose eyes and limbs, or become crippled from batton attacks in recent years.
Ordinary folks right to voice their opinion on political matters is being subdued, as a direct result of the more faschist approach from the police. Its as if they want to claim down on peoples right to protest, or deter them from trying in the first place.
Our conversation ended with him saying he wouldn’t loose hope, but at the same time feared that that future generations would become resigned to how things are, and more apathetic.
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You have seen it from one side of the coin and I have seen it from the other. When you go through the whole process of the gendarmerie accusing you of something you haven’t done you feel totally different about things.
Fortunately for me the prosecutor refused to proceed, but eager to get their pound of flesh I was called in and fingerprinted and photographed, just to complete their paperwork. I have never felt so profoundly hurt in all my life.
One of our neighbours, French, was hauled up for not stopping for nine seconds at a junction.
He is no shrinking violet and asked them to show him where they had this in their book, which, of course, they couldn’t.
A film has been made of the unlawful killing of one of our other neighbours, Jerome Laronze.
It is with their handling of decent people, not ignorant bullies, that the ordinary people take offence at Police attitudes and violence.
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I think this is the thread about the stade de france liverpool madrid game - or rather it’s policing?
So I’ve just read a guardian documentary on what happened - very revealing including that Spanish fans didn’t get teargassed (its got video) - so maybe Graham was right (presume he has the topic muted).
I think one can say that on this occasion French Police appear incompetent if not excessively violent…
Hi Stella, I would respectfully disagree with you, sorry.
No horse can be forced to do anything. I’ve ridden competitively for over 30 years and there is no way a ton of horse can be told to do something he (sorry, she, them…) cannot want to do. Most crowds will disperse directly if the horses - and the dogs - go in, so things are sorted more quickly. Humans in general are in fear of horses given their size and dogs given their jaws. I wish we brought the dogs and horses in faster as it would stop the problems quickly before it progresses
I feel enormously as a dog and horse lover but I agree with their use and wish it were swifter and used more widely
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I doubt the members who decided it must have been the nasty English hooligans will respond. Despite the report being in The Guardian, usually much loved and revered on here 
Izzy x
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I don’t have much experience with French police or gendarme, but I guess everyone’s thoughts are based upon their own experiences - if you have a good interaction then it will stand out in your mind, and a negative one will too, and therefore you can end up painting everyone with the same brush.
I did know a female police officer in Paris, and I will say from hearing conversations there is institutional racism in the force (not suggesting it’s everywhere). I also recall a kind lady who lived in Paris, and her partner honked the horn when a police car jumped a red light without sirens or blue lights flashing. The car stopped, and the police officer grabbed him around the neck and held him in a throat hold against the car, and when his fiancée tried to film the unwarranted act of aggression, the policeman’s female colleague started to go to work on her. He ended up in a police cell for a few hours before being released without charge.
How very unsurprising, especially in Paris.
The gendarmerie are a martial force and are not allowed to serve in their own town, whereas, despite the problems with UK Police, being local is seen as an advantage.