More than just parking tickets

07.00 o'clock, start of shift. After the Differdange public order officers have changed into their uniforms, they exchange news over a cup of coffee and read their emails. "How does it look? Are we ready?" Christian Brinck asks loudly in the room that is both a reception for the residents of the southern municipality and an open-plan office. For the staff of 14, who work in two shifts, it is a rather small office. But it is located in the centre of Differdange with its shops, cafés and restaurants and only a few minutes' walk from the train station.

"So, let's go into the hustle and bustle." Around half past seven, the office empties. By car, we head for the Foussbann. The first stop this morning is the Woiwer elementary school. Since not all schools in the villages in the country's third-largest municipality with almost 30,000 inhabitants can be covered at the same time, the agents are present on a rotating basis. "But we specifically cover the schools where there are the most problems, " explains Brinck. The watchful eyes of the public order officers are there to ensure safety. But of course the only real danger, as they say, comes from the cars of the parents who drive their children to school.

Around a quarter to eight, the traffic volume on the school campus increases considerably, but without reaching chaotic proportions. A particularly dangerous spot lurks in the bend in front of the entrance to the schoolyard. Cars travel here in both directions. However, the children also have to pass through this area. But of all places, there is no pavement on the right-hand side here, where most of them are on the move. In between, an e-scooter even weaves its way through the traffic. The man's manoeuvre does not seem entirely kosher. But interfering with moving traffic is not the responsibility of the "agents municipaux".