關注社會:巴黎別動隊向隨地小便宣戰

【英文原文】

In Paris, Brigade Battles To Make Oui-Oui A Non-Non
Hidden behind dark sunglasses, Jean-Pierre Rebete follows his target into a narrow Paris alley.

'We've got one,' he whispers to his partner, who bolts to block off the other end of the street.

The man in the alley zips up his jeans and turns away from the wall. Busted. Mr. Rebete hands him a ticket and informs him of his rights.

Mr. Rebete is a special agent in Paris's war on public urination. Part of an elite, 88-member force called the Brigade des Incivilites, or Bad Behavior Brigade, Mr. Rebete scours the streets for all sorts of boorish offenders. Dressed in civilian clothes and driving an unmarked car, he tickets everyone from litterbugs to people handing out unauthorized flyers to Parisians who don't pick up after their dog.

But what the French call urine sauvage, which translates to 'wild urine,' is the hardest to crack. While France's capital has campaigned with some success to have Parisians pick up after their pets, the city is still struggling with the presence of pipi. Urine is hard to escape in certain parts of the city, be it on the street, in the Metro or in parks.

Members of the Brigade say there is no high season for urinary offenses, but summertime heat heightens the stench.

City hygiene workers scrub down and spray tens of thousands of square meters of walls and sidewalks every month. But according to Mr. Rebete, a former sanitation worker himself, the products they use -- a combination of disinfectant and deodorizer, blasted through a hose with hot water -- are no match for the streams that seep into the city's stone streets.

'It just masks the smell,' he says. 'It doesn't wash it away.'

Paris has tried to stem the flow. Some 400 public restrooms -- self-cleaning gray pods called Sanisettes -- are scattered throughout the city and have been free to use since 2006. The Sanisettes are being upgraded, and the newest models include skylights and an eco-friendly design, including reservoirs that store rainwater for use in the toilet.

Yet offenders are undeterred, says Etienne Vanderpooten, an architect with the City of Paris who has tried to crack the puzzle. In 2005, Mr. Vanderpooten unveiled a design for an anti-pipi wall, a jagged surface that splashes urine back onto the unzipped offender. The prototype was attached to a wall in one of the most affected areas at the time -- a street called the Cour des Petites Ecuries on Paris' Right Bank. Mr. Vanderpooten says he often goes by to check on his experiment: 'The people who used to pee there don't pee in the same place anymore.' The city has no immediate plans to erect more of the walls.

Whether in small towns or big cities, public urination is a global phenomenon. Under former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the New York City Police Department began a major crackdown on 'quality of life' offenses -- including passing water in public. This year alone, the city has handed out more than 18,500 summonses for public urination, according to the NYPD.

Paris has taken a more gradual approach to tackling the problem. Starting in the early 1960s, the office in charge of keeping the city clean -- the Centre d'Action pour la Proprete de Paris, or CAPP -- released informational brochures, subway posters and a series of short films about hygiene and air quality. Then in 1986, realizing that the CAPP needed more teeth in its fight against uncivilized behavior, the mayor's office transferred jurisdiction from the police to the new Bad Behavior Brigade.

Active enforcement by the Brigade, combined with aggressive advertising, managed to eliminate the dog-droppings problem rather quickly, city officials say. Erick Orblin, CAPP director, says he has noticed a decline in the Parisian dog population since the crackdown began. Some residents would now prefer to own an indoor cat or a fish than have to stoop and scoop on the sidewalk, he says.

But the urine problem is a different matter. Of the 20,000 total infractions the Brigade records every year, one quarter involve people and dogs caught illegally relieving themselves in public. In 2007, the Brigade handed out 1,200 tickets to adults for public urination. In 2008, that number rose to 1,800. By the end of June this year, the Brigade had already handed out 1,100 tickets. City officials say it is hard to determine whether the rising number is due to a growing problem or to the crackdown by Mr. Rebete and his colleagues.

There are other challenges. Brigade members don't target homeless people, travelers, or people without documentation. That is because, without identification or a Paris address, offenders have no way of receiving court documents in the mail. Fines can be as high as 450 euros ($644), but will be reduced to a maximum of 35 euros starting next year.

For Mr. Rebete, the 53-year-old Brigade agent, public hygiene is about basic civic values. From his slim, neatly pressed tan slacks to his perfectly trimmed nails and the small, gleaming stud in his left earlobe, everything about Mr. Rebete suggests a sense of well-scrubbed order. In 1982, Mr. Rebete joined France's civil-servant corps and worked his way through various municipal units, including the Department of Cleanliness and Water. He spent some years as a Paris street cleaner and garbage-disposal worker before joining the Brigade last year.

'There's a lack of civility,' said Mr. Rebete, frowning at a puddle on a sidewalk. 'I remember walking around with my grandfather 40 years ago, and you'd pick up every bit of paper that fell to the street.'

The Brigade works in shifts from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., and agents always go out in teams of two. Violent resistance from offenders, though not common, is sometimes possible, Mr. Rebete said.

On their recent afternoon shift, Mr. Rebete and his partner had just begun patrolling the streets in their compact Citroen car when they spotted the first offense of the day: illegal trash dumping. Mr. Rebete jumped out, slid on a pair of latex gloves and ripped open the stray trash bag. Inside, he found what he was looking for: a sheet of paper with the name and address of a nearby business, the likely guilty party.

When he is surveying for other offenses, Mr. Rebete's strategy is to blend in. He puts on his shades, pretends he is waiting for the bus or a friend, and sneaks up on people after the act. 'We don't interrupt them,' says Mr. Rebete, adding that he can generally spot offenses even before they occur.

Minutes after Mr. Rebete ticketed the urinator he caught in the alley, another suspect headed the same way. Like the previous offender, the man stepped off to the left, leaned close to the wall and unzipped.

Mr. Rebete smiled and walked quietly toward him, fishing for the book of tickets tucked into his belt.

【中文譯文】

躲在黑色的墨鏡後面，讓·皮埃爾·雷貝特(Jean-Pierre Rebete)尾隨着他的目標進入了巴黎市一條狹窄的小巷。

“我們逮到了一個，”他悄聲對自己的搭擋說。他的搭擋立刻猛衝到巷子的另一頭，堵住目標的出口。

Susana Ferreira/The Wall Street Journal

儘管巴黎大街上設置了新式、寬敞的公共廁所，但還是無法阻止隨地小便的行爲巷子裏的男人拉好牛仔褲的拉鍊，從牆邊轉過身來。完蛋了。雷貝特先生交給了他一張罰單，告知了他應有的權利。

雷貝特先生是巴黎反隨地小便戰的一名特工。作爲一支由88人組成的精英團隊“不良行爲別動隊”(Brigade des Incivilites)的成員，雷貝特先生負責巡視巴黎的大街小巷，抓尋各種各樣行爲粗鄙的違規者。他穿着平民裝，開着沒有什麼明顯特徵的汽車，其目標五花八門，包括亂丟垃圾者，亂髮傳單者，還有不願將愛犬的排泄物從地上撿拾起來的巴黎人。

法國“特種”巡警專抓隨地大小便
瑞貝特(Jean-Pierre Rebete)和博塔尼(Daniel Bottani)與你平日見到的巴黎警察不同。他們執行的任務十分特殊──巡視巴黎的主要街道，專抓那些危害公共衛生的人。隨地大小便等最輕微的犯罪也在他們管轄範圍之內。《華爾街日報》費雷拉(Susana Ferreira)報道。但是，法國人所稱的urine sauvage，翻譯過來就是“隨地小便”，則是所有不良行爲當中最難打擊的一個。雖然巴黎市政府在糾正巴黎人無視狗糞方面已經取得一些成功，但是對於隨地小便的現象還是一籌莫展。隨地小便在巴黎的某些地區很難清除，無論是在街道上，地鐵裏，還是公園裏。

“不良行爲別動隊”的成員表示，隨地小便並沒有突發的高峯季節，但是炎熱的夏天通常會讓大街小巷瀰漫着惡臭。

市政環衛工人每個月都要擦洗並噴 幾萬平方米的牆壁和人行道。但是，據也曾是環衛工人的雷貝特先生表示，他們通過熱水管噴射的清潔產品──消毒劑和除臭劑的混合物，根本敵不過那些逐漸滲透到巴黎市內石頭街道里的尿流。

他說，“那只是掩蓋了臭味。可沒有把小便清洗乾淨。”

巴黎市政府已經試圖從源頭遏制隨地小便的現象。自2006年以來，市政府已將大約400間公共廁所投入到大街小巷，供公衆免費使用。這些被稱爲Sanisette的自洗式灰色隔間還在不斷更新換代當中，最近的款式還增加了天窗和一種環保設計，包括可以儲集雨水供清洗廁所用的蓄水池。

然而，據巴黎市一位曾經試圖攻克此難題的建築師範德普登(Etienne Vanderpooten)表示，喜歡隨意“排解”的巴黎人並沒有因此被嚇唬住。2005年，範德普登先生曾推出“反隨地小便牆”的設計，這種牆具有波浪形的外壁，行人在它上面“方便”，反而會被自己的尿液濺到。這座牆的原型被附在當時巴黎市內隨地小便現象最爲嚴重的一條街道──即巴黎右岸(Right Bank)的Cour des Petites Ecuries。範德普登先生說，他常常路過那裏檢查自己的試驗效果：“那些過去常在那裏方便的人們不再在同一個地方小便了。”不過，巴黎市政府目前還沒有計劃樹立更多的“反隨地小便牆”。

無論是小城鎮，還是大都市，隨地小便是一個全球性的現象。前紐約市市長魯道夫·朱利安尼(Rudolph Giuliani)曾要求紐約市警察局(NYPD)嚴厲打擊影響“生活質量”的不雅行爲，其中也包括隨地小便。據紐約市警察局的資料，單是今年一年，紐約市就已經傳喚了18,500名隨地小便者。

巴黎市在應付此類問題上則採取了更加循序漸進的方法。早在20世紀60年代初，負責城市衛生的CAPP部門(the Centre d'Action pour la Proprete de Paris)即開始推出資料手冊、地鐵海報以及一系列的短片，宣傳衛生和空氣質量的重要性。1986年，市政府意識到CAPP在抗擊不文明行爲的戰鬥中需要更多精英，便將有關權限從警方轉交至新組建的“不良行爲別動隊”。

巴黎市政府官員表示，別動隊積極的執法加上大力宣傳很快消除了狗糞當道的問題。CAPP的總監埃裏克?奧伯林(Erick Orblin)表示，自清理狗糞運動以來，巴黎市內的寵物狗數量已經出現下降。他說，一些巴黎人日益傾心於諸如貓和魚這樣不用外出遛的動物，以免還得跟在寵物後面清理排泄物的麻煩。

不過，隨地小便則是完全不同的一個問題。在別動隊每年記錄的20,000例不良行爲案例中，其中四分之一涉及人和狗非法隨地小便。2007年，別動隊向成人開出的隨地小便罰單爲1,200張。2008年，這個數字攀升到1,800張。到今年6月底，別動隊已經開出1,100張罰單。市政官員表示，目前難以確定罰單數量的增多是由於隨地小便問題日益嚴重，還是雷貝特先生及其別動隊同事的嚴厲執法。

還有其它的挑戰。別動隊成員並不針對無家可歸者、旅遊者，或者無身份者。這是因爲，沒有身份或者巴黎市內的地址，違規者沒有辦法通過郵件收到法庭文件。罰金最高可達450歐元（合644美元），但是從明年開始，將降低至最高35歐元。

對於53歲的別動隊特工雷貝特先生來說，公共衛生意味着基本的公民價值。從他那修長平整的茶色夾克、修剪整齊的指甲，到左耳垂隱約閃光的小耳釘，雷貝特先生本身就是一絲不苟的最好詮釋。1982年，雷貝特先生加入了法國公務員隊伍，隨後服務於市政府的多個部門，包括城市清潔和淨水部(Department of Cleanliness and Water)。在去年加入別動隊之前，他曾擔任巴黎的街道清掃工人和垃圾處理工人。

雷貝特先生說，“現在的人們缺少禮貌端莊的儀態。”他對着人行道上的一攤“水”直皺眉頭。“我還記得40年前我和祖父一起散步的時候，大家會撿起落在街邊的哪怕一點點紙屑。”

“不良行爲別動隊”按班輪值，工作從早上6點開始一直持續到晚上11點。別動隊的特工總是兩兩出行。雷貝特先生說，來自違規人員的暴力阻抗雖然不是很普遍，但是時有發生。

在最近的一個下午班上，雷貝特先生及其搭擋開着他們的雪鐵龍汽車，剛剛開始在街道上巡邏。這時，他們發現了當天的第一個違規行爲：非法亂倒垃圾。雷貝特先生迅速從車裏出來，戴上橡膠手套，撕開那個被亂丟的垃圾袋。在裏面，他找到了他正在尋找的東西：一張寫有附近某家企業──也就是潛在的違規方──名字和地址的紙片。

當他搜尋其它違規行爲的時候，雷貝特先生的戰略就是不要惹人注目。他會戴上墨鏡，裝作在等車或者等朋友，然後在違規發生後悄悄走到他們的背後。雷貝特先生說，“我們不會打斷他們。”他還說，他一般都能在違規行爲發生之前就預測到。

雷貝特先生給他在小巷裏逮到的隨地小便者開出罰單後幾分鐘，另一個嫌疑人如法炮製。與之前的違規者一樣，這名男子轉身向左，靠向牆壁，然後拉開了拉鍊。

雷貝特先生面帶微笑，靜靜地朝他走去，一隻手則伸向了別在皮帶上的罰單本。