Fiche S
Indicator for flagging a suspicious person used by French law enforcement
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Key Takeaways
- In France, a fiche S ( French pronunciation: [fiʃ ɛs] ; English: S card ) is an indicator used by law enforcement to flag an individual considered to be a serious threat to national security.
- It is the highest level of such a warning in France; it allows surveillance but is not cause for arrest.
- These continue to include gangsters, prison escapees, and ecologists (that are anarchists, anti-nuclear campaigners, etc.
- Suspects flagged with fiche S have included those who have looked at jihadist websites or met radicals outside mosques, to those considered highly dangerous.
- Approximately 400,000 people, from mafia members to escaped prisoners, were in the FPR at any given point.
In France, a fiche S (French pronunciation: [fiʃ ɛs]; English: S card) is an indicator used by law enforcement to flag an individual considered to be a serious threat to national security. The S stands for Sûreté de l'État ("state security"). It is the highest level of such a warning in France; it allows surveillance but is not cause for arrest. There have been some 400,000 individuals assigned a fiche S since 1969. These continue to include gangsters, prison escapees, and ecologists (that are anarchists, anti-nuclear campaigners, etc.), as well as suspected Islamic extremists. Suspects flagged with fiche S have included those who have looked at jihadist websites or met radicals outside mosques, to those considered highly dangerous.
About
The fiche S alert began in 1969 with the establishment of the national fugitive registry, the "Fichier des personnes recherchées" ("File of Wanted People") or FPR, maintained by the Police Nationale. Approximately 400,000 people, from mafia members to escaped prisoners, were in the FPR at any given point. The fiche S in someone's file indicated a threat to national security.
Now a digital warning rather than a paper one, the presence of fiche S in the system symbolizes a warning to every law enforcement official or customs officer who accesses someone's file. The degree of severity ranges from level S01 to S15 (1 being the highest, 15 the lowest), degrees which indicate the measures law enforcement should take in dealing with the individual. The card is updated every two years. It is the highest warning possible without giving cause for arrest (or deportation in case of a foreign national), though it does permit surveillance, including wiretapping and placing GPS-tracking devices on cars.
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