Another French city introduces video monitoring and fines

The city of Rouen is to become the latest to bring in video monitoring and fines for drivers of badly-parked cars - and perpetrators of other offences - to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

Authorities in Rouen (Seine-Maritime, Normandy) have confirmed that the change would come into force from January 2025. For a year’s trial period the city will use video cameras to ‘tag’ and fine drivers who breach the parking rules, and those who otherwise “breach the peace and order”.

‘Vidéo-verbalisation’ camera network

From January, the new ‘vidéo-verbalisation’ camera network will enable officers to monitor "the areas of rue de la République, rue Lafayette, rue Jeanne-d'Arc, rue Saint-Vivien and the upper quays of the right bank" from a urban surveillance centre (CSU), said Kader Chekhemani, Rouen's deputy mayor responsible for public peace, parking and cleanliness, to Le Parisien.

The city will use the 106 video cameras it already has installed, and is aiming to have 124 more ready to go by the end of 2024. These cameras constantly monitor the city centre, the left bank, the Grammont district, and the Hauts de Rouen.

The network will aim to support the city’s existing 150 local public order and police officers on the ground. Yet, the council will initially take a more lenient approach, in a bid to boost awareness of the rules before “cracking down”, said Mr Chekhemani.

“We want it to be a deterrent. We want drivers to know that if you park there, you will be fined. Do not get in the way of those who are vulnerable. We need to change behaviour,” he said.

Read also: CCTV trial in French town issues 1,700 parking fines in six months
Read also: How communities in rural France are using CCTV to tackle rising crime

Protect pavement users

“Parking offences on pavements and cycle paths have a major impact and are repeated all too regularly,” said Mr Chekhemani. “Many local residents have complained about this.

"The aim is to protect users of ‘soft mobility’, whether pedestrians or cyclists, from vehicles that park on pavements, pedestrian crossings, in front of school entrances and on cycle paths, making travel dangerous. By the time we send an officer, they're often gone,” he said.

“The fact remains that children, mothers with pushchairs, and cyclists have been forced to use the road and put themselves in danger. All these things we want to fight.”

The deputy mayor sought to assuage any fears about video monitoring and automatic fines.

“The camera is a tool, but it is not automatic,” he said. “There will be a sworn and authorised officer behind it, so it will be used with discretion.”

It comes after officials in the Rouen Normandie metropole (metropolitan area) announced their goal of making the city the “mobility [transport] capital of the future”. 

Its plans also include the development of its transport system, making it more eco-friendly, extending the réseau express vélo (REV, cycle express network), and increasing the pedestrianisation of some streets. 

Read also: French city warned over ‘intrusive’ use of CCTV to check number plates 

Not just parking offences

The cameras will not just monitor parking offences. 

They are also intended to help detect “thefts, assaults and suspicious gatherings”, as well as "to protect passers-by and, at the request of the public prosecutor, to support investigations”, the deputy mayor said.

For example, video surveillance footage from the camera network was used in court following the fire at the synagogue in Rouen, Mr Chekhemani said, enabling the judge to “clear the police officer who shot the assailant in self-defence”.

Rouen only the latest city to introduce system

Rouen is not the only city to install a vidéo-verbalisation system that uses cameras and remote monitoring to identify road (and other) offences.

Paris already has the system in place, especially for cycle lanes, while other major cities that use it include Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Bordeaux, Dijon, Lyon, Nimes, Toulouse, Toulon, and Strasbourg.