r/Monaco • u/anonnn177 • 7d ago
Stopped by undercover police in the streets
We are a family of 5 on holiday from New Zealand to Monaco. We were just walking on the streets and got stopped by 2 “police” who were wearing completely normal clothes but had an armband that said “police” at first we genuinely thought it was a joke and like a tourist trap to steal our ID’s so we just kept walking when they yelled out “police” and did a whole check on us. Is this something normal in Monaco? We were so shocked personally because this would never happen in NZ
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u/imasleuth4truth2 7d ago
Something similar happened to us last year when we were visiting Monaco. The police were calling out and we didn't realize they were talking to us. It turns out we had left our trunk open on our car. They were super nice about it and we were grateful.
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u/anitalianguy 7d ago
If they had an armband they weren't much undercover were they? Anyway yes it may happen but it's not that common, usually police is dressed as police and has no trouble stopping people and asking for IDs. Odd they stopped you as a family, normally they only stop kids and drunk looking people.
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u/anonnn177 6d ago
I think to us we thought that anyone can just buy an armband that says police on it lol there was nothing special about it
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u/anitalianguy 6d ago
Yes but in Monaco it's veeery unlikely anyone would be running scams in the streets. It's extremely tight and secured, usually crime happening is white collar or divorce fights.
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u/Any_Strain7020 4d ago edited 4d ago
Those orange armbands are heavily controlled and the original ones are difficult to buy. Had they produced a warrant card, would you know what a real one looks like? Probably not.
So anyone with a replica airsoft gun, a 100€ DMR radio and a movie prop warrant card could also be a fake copper trying to pull tricks.
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u/PradaAndPunishment 7d ago
Don't be gaslighted into thinking it was wrong to be wary of them. Scamming tourists is common all over Europe and it's easy to cosplay as police.
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u/anonnn177 7d ago
Thats how we did feel!! They were literally laughing at us because we were shocked so we felt stupid, but to us everyone told us to be careful of scams etc in Europe so when we saw people wearing such casual clothes claiming to be police and laughing we were definitely skeptical…
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u/PualWalsh 7d ago
Random checks are legal in EU, in most countries, and photo ID is required at all times. It’s intimidating especially as the UK is the opposite legally, but In itself the exception rather than the rule. A Schengen thing too ?? Dunno.
Ultimately they’re there to protect us. There is a land bridge from Portugal to China.
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u/HappyComparison8311 7d ago
Random checks are illegal in most of europe as only a suspect of a crime has to oblige to such demands.
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u/PualWalsh 5d ago
In France and Italy they regularly check papers on trains and in cars at the border towns, péages and at road junctions. There were 6 police civile not gendarmes stationed on my road pulling cars over just earlier this evening. A couple of years ago I nearly was arrested in Italy because I forgot my passport when I went over the border to San Remo. My Carte de Resident was enough just.
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u/HappyComparison8311 5d ago
Yeah i mean happens here aswell but i zoomed in on the legality of it. Its abuse of authority often
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u/PualWalsh 5d ago
Im a brit I find it really intimidating , already had several run-ins over the years.
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u/HappyComparison8311 5d ago
I have whole stories myself aswell including physical fights with cops here lol. Its that i work for the government myself and have the credentials because they tried really hard to stick bullshit charges. 11 vs my word and they still couldnt beat the knowledge i have.
Cops are really corrupt man. Dumb and corrupt as most dont even know the definition of a suspect. So many people walk around with police trauma and instantly feel paranoid whenever they see cops now.
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u/Any_Strain7020 4d ago edited 4d ago
Article 81-10
Dans le cadre d'une enquête préliminaire, l'officier de police judiciaire ou, sous son contrôle, l'agent de police judiciaire, peut effectuer des contrôles d'identité, conformément à l'article 2 de la loi n° 1.430 du 13 juillet 2016 portant diverses mesures relatives à la préservation de la sécurité nationale relatif aux contrôles d'identité.
https://legimonaco.mc/code/code-procedure-penale/
See also:
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u/Kobakocka 6d ago
But Monaco is outside of the EU...
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u/PualWalsh 6d ago
Yes Monaco has stricter laws than EU countries in many aspects. They particularly dislike noise, public disorder, fighting, drunkenness and men walking around topless! And don’t think of arguing back. They have their own court and prison. Gloves required on scooters and motorbikes but seat belts not obligatory.
It’s a very safe place. I saw a handbag once which someone had lost. It stayed there all day.
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u/Manor7974 7d ago
Checks are common throughout Europe, if you had kids with you and they checked IDs it could have been an anti trafficking thing. Or just random. Don’t take this the wrong way, but NZ is a tiny place in the middle of nowhere so a lot of types of transnational crime just don’t really pass through there…
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u/Hutcho12 7d ago
In 25 years in Europe I have never once been randomly stopped by the police and asked for my ID.
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u/Manor7974 7d ago
Cool! While we’re sharing random anecdotes, I’ve been living and traveling widely in Europe for roughly the same period and I’ve been stopped once. I know many others who’ve also been stopped. My point with “common” is that it’s not unusual, not that it’s frequent for any given individual.
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u/nextstoq 7d ago
I've been randomly stopped twice by police in New Zealand, so we can add that to the list
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u/Symbikort 6d ago
15 years - 2 times - one time they were really profiling all Asian looking people (it seemed like someone was on the loose, they did not really check my ID but compared me to the photo on their phone) - second time - I was passing by a construction site and there was a raid on illegal workers. Let’s say I did not look my best that day and my clothes did look I am going to work there - brief check and I was gone.
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u/sufficient_bilberry 7d ago
? I’ve lived my whole life in Europe (in two countries), have travelled widely and I’ve never heard anyone being stopped by the police and having their ID checked.
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u/HappyComparison8311 7d ago
Come to holland and you will be racially profiled within an hour of landing.
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u/sufficient_bilberry 6d ago
Hmmm yeah I’m white so this may be the reason (depressingly).
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u/Trick-Base3645 2d ago
No it isn't. I am white and blonde.
I've been stopped countless times by the police in Italy and France. Monaco is on whole other level as I have probably been checked more than a hundred times when I was younger, as I said in another comment my record is eight times in one evening in Monaco.
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u/Manor7974 7d ago
We might have different baselines for “common”. It’s only happened once to me personally in decades of traveling in Europe. But I know several people who’ve had random ID checks while traveling. My point is that it’s not unusual, not that it’s frequent.
And I’m not even including random checks on trains, which are so frequent on some routes that people might not put them in the same category even though they really should be (and they would probably feel just as weird to a visitor from somewhere like NZ).
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u/PualWalsh 5d ago
That’s weird. Anywhere in France and Monaco you can see cars being pulled over and papers checked literally all day. It’s routine. 🤷♂️
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u/MTLMECHIE 7d ago
Happened to my parents in Budapest. If there was a cause to stop you, they would show you official proof and call for their colleagues to help them.
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u/Shot_Association2987 6d ago edited 6d ago
It's perfectly normal and required for tourists to carry identification. Please keep in mind that not every country operates the same way as your own; when you're abroad, you're a guest afterall. If you're not dressed nicely or appear out of place, authorities will question if you are legal to be there. Also you shouldnt be walking on the street, walk on the pavement.
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u/Miserable-March-1398 6d ago
Yeah, try and park a camper on the street, I got an escort to the boarder.
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u/0xPianist 4d ago
It can happen. Ask to show a badge, armband is something they use
If they have guns and equipment they are highly likely actual police
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u/aradiafa 4d ago
Not particularly uncommon tbh. Monaco is heavily policed.
But tbh I've never been stopped in Monaco
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u/Trick-Base3645 2d ago
Nothing surprising, Monaco checks their territory. There are no tourist traps like this, it would be spotted by cameras in three microseconds in random people were going around with fake police armbands.
As a teen I remember that the record for my group of friends has been being stopped eight (8) times in one evening. Good times.
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u/mantiki63 7d ago
You're required to carry your passport with you in Monaco. The police are omnipresent here, but Monaco is also virtually free of crime. You can walk home from a bar at 03:00 and be completely safe. Of course, all sorts of white collar crime happens every day, but that's business as usual.
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u/Ok-Election2227 7d ago
Technically, Monaco could be the most criminal state if you break it down to tax evasion and fraud 😛
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u/Illustrious_Bet_9963 7d ago edited 7d ago
Did you yell “Fascist MAGA” and then start chanting Orange Man Bad, Orange Man Bad, Orange Man Bad at them?
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u/zelioze 7d ago
Yes it's normal. There is lots of undercover police driving and walking in Monaco. A lot during weekends at Port and where the clubs are.