French police can check your home (and elderly relatives) when you are away

HERE IS HOW TO SIGN UP FOR THE SERVICE, AS WELL AS A SPECIAL CHECK FOR ELDERLY PEOPLE. PLUS, ADVICE ON HOW TO AVOID ‘FAKE POLICE’ SCAMS Police in France can check on your home for free when

you are away over the holidays. The Opération Tranquillité Vacances service is free and is available year-round. You sign up for the service at your local police station or gendarmerie. Once

you have signed up, your local police will include your home on their patrols (sometimes passing by several times a day), and can contact you or investigate if anything appears suspicious

or if there are any signs of trespassers or a break-in.  You can also designate a trusted neighbour who can be their immediate point of contact if anything happens. HOW CAN I SIGN UP TO THE

OPÉRATION TRANQUILLITÉ VACANCES SERVICE? To register you need to give two days’ notice (five days in Paris), and present a valid ID (typically your passport) and a recent electricity bill to

prove your address. * You can go to your local police or gendarmerie station to complete a request form, or  * Sign up for the service online here. For the online option, you need a

FranceConnect login (a single, secure login for many official sites in France).  You can find out how to set one up here: What is FranceConnect? Even if you do sign up for the service you

are advised to take the same precautions as you would normally when leaving your home empty. These include:  * Closing and locking all doors, windows, shutters, and gates * Avoiding leaving

valuable or precious objects visible and/or easily accessible * Avoiding leaving large sums of cash in the home Read also: Gendarmes’ 9-point plan to keep your home safe when away on holiday

  CAN I SIGN UP FOR MY SECOND HOME? Police officers only provide the service for main homes, and for up to three months. The gendarmerie, however, will offer the service for second homes as

well as main residences, and you can ask them to check in on the house for up to an entire year. Whether you are in a ‘police zone’ or ‘gendarmerie zone’, however, depends on the location of

the house. You can ask at your local station which service you can benefit from, or type in your postal code on the Gendarmerie page here to check the location of your local gendarmerie.

Read also: French police holiday service in demand as break-ins soar Read also: Explainer: how to get police to check on your home in France when away ELDERLY PEOPLE CHECK The gendarmerie

also offer a service called Opération Tranquillité Seniors for those aged 65 and over.  Officers can include their home on their patrols to be alert to anything suspicious, and can even

visit the elderly person in their home regularly to check that they are safe and well. They can also share tips to help an elderly person feel more secure in their home, and prevent

burglaries or other security problems. You can sign up (or you can sign up on behalf of an elderly relative) at your local gendarmerie. Again, you can check your closest station by typing in

your postal code on this page. BE ALERT TO HOME CHECK SCAMS Homeowners are also advised to be alert to scammers who may target people in connection with this service. For example, if anyone

comes to your home and claims to be a police or gendarmerie officer, or offers to help set up this service for you, be alert. Ask the person to see their professional ID card (say:

'Est-ce que je peux voir votre carte professionnelle?') and, if in doubt, tell them you will call the police to check ('Je vais appeler la police pour vérifier'). Then

call 17. This may be enough to deter any fake officers. However, the real police advise that you report the incident as the same scammer is likely to try at several properties in the area.

BURGLARY ‘STRING’ ALERT Gendarmes have also warned about a method in which criminals use a simple thread to check if a home is unoccupied.  Video surveillance gathered during an

investigation into a spate of burglaries in the south of Lyon showed the suspects putting a thread or thin string through the gate, tying loose knots around the two gate sides. If the gate

was opened, the thread would break or fall to the ground. But if the suspects drove round to the home several days later, and the thread was still intact, they could guess that the property

was empty. They would then break in. In the Lyon case the perpetrators stole electronic equipment and jewellery. “It is very discreet because you can't necessarily see it with the naked

eye [unless you know it’s there],” said the gendarmerie director to ActuLyon.