French Riot Control - Andrew's Way

Why can the French officials not put a stop to the ridiculous riots? It took them eleven nights of continuous rioting to declare a curfew.

As far as I can tell, even the most basic riot control methods haven't been used yet. That is, the use of dogs, horseback riot police, high-pressure water cannons, salt-pellet guns, rubber-bullet shotguns, teargas, and good-ol' fashioned billy clubs or nightsticks.

Somewhere in here there is a joke about the French and their cowardly ways, but it's just too obvious.

I don't know what the delay to take action has been, but just off the top of my uneducated mind, here's what I would have done:

Night one: Establish sundown curfew. Anyone caught loitering after sundown will be arrested and detained for 48 hours. Offer rewards to those who will turn over rioters and law-breakers. This will cause instability amongst the groups themselves. If this proved ineffective, then…

Night two: Cordon off the troublesome neighborhoods then send in Gendarmie Nationale to guard the streets in armored vehicles. Shut off electricity and gas to the troublesome neighborhoods. Use loudspeakers to re-enforce the curfew as well as any other "soothing" propaganda message such as, "Pour vos propres sans risque, restez dans vos maisons. Votre conformité sera recompense. Le manque de conformité sera rencontré la force mortelle." ("For your own safely, please stay in your homes. Your compliance will be rewarded. Non-compliance will be met with lethal force.")

Make it clear that electricity and gas will only be restored after the rioting stops.

Meanwhile, drop leaflets or use loudspeakers to give notice that if rioting continues, there will be a door-to-door sweep to arrest all men ages 16-40. If this proved ineffective, then…

Night three: Sweep the neighborhoods. Detain anyone all males aged 16-40 for a period of no less than 48 hours. Release them in groups of 40-50 at intervals of 6-10 hours at a time.

Maybe I've read too many comic books or have watched too many movies and that's why I think something like this would work, but what I do know is waiting until Riots: Day Eleven to announce a curfew is just plain "sitting-on-your-hands".