National Police (France)

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The National Police (French: Police nationale), formerly known as the Sûreté nationale, is one of two national police forces of France, the other being the National Gendarmerie. The National Police is the country's main civil law enforcement agency, with primary jurisdiction in cities and large towns. By contrast, the National Gendarmerie has primary jurisdiction in smaller towns, as well as in rural and border areas. The National Police comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior and has about 145,200 employees (as of 2015). Young French citizens can fulfill their mandatory service (Service national universel) in the police force.^[4][5]

The national police force was created on 14 August 1941, under the Vichy regime, by a decree signed by the head of government, Philippe Pétain. This decree implements the law of 23 April 1941, creating the Police nationale: the forces of the Sûreté nationale (with the former services of the Sûreté générale, which became the Sûreté nationale in 1934, and the municipal police units, which became "étatisées" for the police forces of towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants) and the police services of the Préfecture de police in Paris are thus united. It was dissolved after the Liberation, by order of the Provisional Government of the French Republic on 16 November 1944. It was revived by Law no. 66-492 of 9 July 1966, on the organization of the police in France. This law unified the Sûreté Nationale and the Préfecture de Police.

The National Police operates mostly in cities and large towns. In that context, it conducts security operations such as

Organization

The National Police is commanded by the Director-General (directeur général de la police nationale), who is currently Frédéric Veaux. The Director-General is personally in command of the General Directorate of the National Police (French: Direction Générale de la Police nationale) (DGPN) and responsible to the Minister of the Interior.^[6]

The Préfet de Police, currently

The National Police is sub-divided into (central) directorates, which are further composed of sub-directorates:

• Direction des ressources et des compétences de la police nationale (Directorate of Resources and Competences of the National Police; DRCPN):^[7] formed from the fusion of the former Direction de la formation de police nationale (Directorate of Training of the National Police; DFPN) and Direction de l'administration de la police nationale (Directorate of Administration of the National Police; DAPN). It was established on 1 September 2010 and employs approximately 3 000 people.^[8]
• Direction Régionale de Police Judiciaire de Paris
  which is nicknamed after its address "36 Quai des Orfèvres" (often without the number), and is a metonym for the Police generally; the national headquarters of the PJ, as it is usually called in French, are actually located at 11 rue des Saussaies, within the Ministry of the Interior). The main Sub-Directorates of the Judicial Police are:
  • Sous-direction anti-terroriste "SDAT" (Anti-Terrorism Sub-Directorate): elite counter-terrorist task-force.
  • Gendarmerie Nationale
    )
  • Sous-Direction de la police technique et scientifique "SDPTS" (Sub-directorate of forensics and crime scene investigation)
  • Sous-Direction de lutte contre la cybercriminalité "SDLC" (Sub-directorate for the struggle against computer and internet crime)
• Direction centrale de la sécurité publique (Central Directorate of Public Security; DCSP): Patrol and response duties, misdemeanour investigations, emergency help; this Directorate comprises approximatively 80% of the workforce. The DCSP is the National Police's equivalent of the Departmental Gendarmerie.
  • Central apparatus (l'Échelon central)
  • 92 départemental directorates in metropolitan France (sing. Direction Départementale de la Sécurité Publique (DDSP), followed by the département's number. For example the DDSP 62 is the Departement Public Security Directorate of Pas-de-Calais^[9]).
  • The three départements of the 'petit couronne' region (Seine-Saint-Denis, Hauts-de-Seine and Val-de-Marne) were absorbed into the Paris Police Prefecture by Presidential Decree No. 2009-898 of 24 July 2009 and fused into the Proximity Security Directorate of the Parisian Agglomeration (Direction de la Sécurité de Proximité de l'Agglomération Parisienne (DSPAP)), which includes four Proximity Security Territorial Directorates (sing. Direction Territoriale de Sécurité de Proximité (DTSP)): DTSP 75 for the city of Paris; DTSP 92 in Nanterre for Hauts-de-Seine; DTSP 93 in Bobigny for Seine-Saint-Denis and DTSP 94 in Créteil for Val-de-Marne.
  • 7 overseas directorates: Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane, La Réunion, New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Mayotte.
• Direction générale des Douanes et Droits Indirects
  ) and handles illegal immigration.
• Inspection générale de la police nationale (General Inspectorate of the National Police, IGPN): headed by the
  Inspector General and responsible for internal affairs
  . In the Paris Area, these tasks are assigned to a dedicated service—the Inspection Générale des Services (General Inspectorate of the Services).
• Direction centrale des compagnies républicaines de sécurité (Central Directorate of the Republican Security Companies; DCCRS): riot police, motorway police, and mountain rescue; commonly referred to as the CRS.
• Service de coopération technique internationale de police (Technical International Police Co-operation Service; SCTIP).
• Groupe de Sécurité de la Présidence de la République
  '.
• Recherche Assistance Intervention Dissuasion (Research, Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence; RAID) intervention unit. The elite counter-terror unit of the National Police and counterpart to the GIGN of the National Gendarmerie. The commander of RAID also doubles as the chief of the National Police Intervention Force (French abbreviation FIPN). The RAID is headquartered in Bièvres, Essonne, approximately 20 kilometres (12 miles) southwest of Paris. As it is on stand-by for deployment nationwide, the primary intervention unit for reaction in Paris is the Brigade anticommando (BRI-BAC) - the Research and Intervention Brigade of the Paris Police Prefecture
  's Judicial Police Regional Directorate. The function of the FIPN is that of a co-ordinating organ between the RAID and the BRI-BAC. The RAID used to operate closely with the UCLAT (Unité de Coordination de la Lutte Antiterroriste, Counterterror Coordination Unit). On 27 December 2019 the UCLAT was absorbed into the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Intérieure', the French domestic intelligence and security agency and the latter took over the close co-operation with the RAID.
  • Territorial Detachments. The Central Directorate of Public Security - the National Police's public order uniformed branch had its own tactical intervention units, the
    Groupes d'Intervention de la Police Nationale
    (Intervention Groups of the National Police (GIPN)).Between 2016 and 2019 these units were absorbed into the RAID as its territorial detachments (antennes RAID)
    • 10 territorial detachments in metropolitan France: Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Rennes, Strasbourg, Montpellier, Nancy and Toulouse;
    • 3 territorial detachments in the French overseas territories: Nouméa in New Caledonia, Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe and Saint-Denis in Réunion.

Former directorates

As of 1 July 2008, the following two National Police directorates:

• counterespionage, counterterrorism
• Direction centrale des renseignements généraux (Central Directorate of General Information; DCRG or RG) – police intelligence, records, research, analysis (and also policing gambling and horse racing
  , two activities which are now in the hands of the "Service central des courses et jeux" SCCJ, a unit of the Judicial Police)

were merged into one single domestic

Direction centrale du renseignement intérieur (DCRI). The DCRI was placed directly under the Ministry of the Interior.^[10]

Ranks

Main article: Police ranks of France

The National Police is divided into three corps, in the terminology of the French Civil Service, in ascending order of seniority:

• The Corps d'encadrement et d'application (Management and Enforcement Corps) corresponds approximately to the enlisted and
  British
  -style civil police force.

• 
  Major, responsable d’unité locale de police
• 
  Major à l’échelon exceptionnel
• 
  Major
• 
  Brigadier-chef
• 
  Brigadier
• 
  Sous-brigadier
• 
  Gardien de la paix (keeper of the peace)
• 
  Gardien de la paix stagiaire (keeper of the peace, intern") 1st year after school.

• The Corps de commandement (Command Corps) corresponds approximately to the lower
  commissioned ranks of a military force, or the grades of inspector and chief inspector in a British-style civil police force. These ranks were previously known as inspecteurs if detectives or officiers de la paix if uniformed, although CRS
  officers always used the current ranks.

• 
  Commandant divisionnaire functionnel
  Same insignia as Commandant but with silver pip
• 
  Commandant divisionnaire
  Same insignia as Commandant but with gold pip
• 
  Commandant (formerly Commandant or Inspecteur divisionnaire)
• 
  Capitaine (formerly Officer de la paix principal or Inspecteur principal)
• 
  Lieutenant (formerly Officier de la paix or Inspecteur)
• 
  Lieutenant de police (stagiaire)
• 
  Lieutenant de police - Élève

• The Corps de conception et de direction (Conception and Direction Corps) corresponds approximately to the higher commissioned ranks of a military force, or to grades of Superintendent and chief officers in a British-style civil police force.

• 
  Directeur général
  (Director general of the National Police)
• 
  Préfet de police de Paris/
  Préfet de police des Bouches-du-Rhône
  (Police Prefect of Paris/
  Police Prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône)
• 
  Directeur des services actifs
  (Director of the Active Services) Equivalent of a Deputy Commissioner in London in a British-style police force
• 
  Inspecteur général
  (

  Inspector General

  ) This is the equivalent of an Assistant Commissioner in Metropolitan Police of London.
• 
  Contrôleur général
  (Controller General) the equivalent of Deputy Assistant Commissioner in the Metropolitan Police.
• 
  Commissaire general

  
  (Commissioner General)
• 
  Commissaire divisionnaire

  
  (Divisional Commissioner of police)
• 
  Commissaire de police (Commissioner of police)
• 
  Commissaire de police - Élève et stagiaire (Probationary Commissioner of police)

All the ranks insignia may be worn either on the shoulders or on the chest. In the latter they are square-shaped.

Prior to 1995 two civilian corps ("Inspecteurs" and "Enquêteurs") existed in which plainclothes officers were given the training and authority to conduct investigations. The closest American equivalent is the detective branch.

Equipment

Weapons

tasers

.

Prior to the Second World War and the formation of the Police Nationale, the French police used a variety of side arms, both revolvers and semi-automatic pistols, notably comprising the MAS 1873, the MAS 1892, the FN M1900, Ruby pistols, and a variety of privately purchased weapons.

Immediately after the

Second World War, a variety of military side arms were issued, often captured weapons provided by the Army or French-produced German-designed weapons, such as the Mauser HSc or the Walther P38 for sidearms, and the Karabiner 98k

rifle, to the now unified national force.

In 1951, a standardisation was performed on the

9×19mm MAC Mle 1950

.

In the early 1960s, large-caliber revolvers were introduced, culminating with the introduction of the

SIG SG 543

) to fend off heavily armed organised crime and terrorism.

In the 2000s, the police started switching to semi-automatic pistols and to the

Gendarmerie Nationale was the PAMAS G1, which was French licensed and made. In 2003 both agencies made the biggest small arms contract since the Second World War^[12] for about 250,000 SIG Sauer Pro SP 2022s, a custom-tailored variant of the SIG Pro, replacing the PAMAS-G1 and several other pistols in service. The weapons are planned to stay in service until the year 2022, hence the weapon name. The police purchased more pistols in late 2018 possibly indicating they intend them to be used beyond 2022.^[13]

For greater threats the police use slightly modified

HK G36

are also issued.

Some sources have claimed the use of the Spectre M4 by the French National Police.

Cars

While the vast majority of vehicles are screen printed French brands (mainly Renault, Citroën and Peugeot), some service vehicles are provided by Ford and Opel. Plainclothes officers or specialised branches use vehicles from a variety of manufacturers.

• 
  Peugeot 308
• 
  Renault Mégane III
• 
  Citroën Berlingo II
• 
  Renault Scénic III
• 
  Renault Trafic II
• 
  Police Motorcycle Yamaha FJR1300
• 
  Peugeot 5008 II
• 
  Unmarked anti crime unit (Peugeot 308)

Pictures

• 
  Police in the process of combing.
• 
  Police in the process of combing.

In popular culture

Television series

• Maigret (various television series)
• The Last Five Minutes (Les cinq dernières minutes) (1958–1996)
• Navarro (1989–2005)
• Commissaire Moulin (1976–2006)
• Police Judiciaire/P.J. (1997–2009)
• La Crim' (1999–2006)
• Commissaire Magellan (2009–)
• Les Cordier juge et flic (1992–2003)
• Commissaire Cordier (2004–2007)
• Julie Lescaut (1991–2014)
• Falco (2013–2016)
• Commissaire Valence (2002–2008)
• Engrenages (2005-)
• Profilage
  (2009-2020)
• The Crimson Rivers (Les Rivières Pourpres) (2018-2020)

See also

• Law enforcement in France

References

1. ^ "Police Nationale – Une force d'action et de protection au service de tous" (in French). Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
2. ^ "Loi du 23 avril 1941 portant organisation générale des services de police en France". criminocorpus.org (in French). 13 March 2008.
3. ^ "Histoire" [History]. Police Nationale (in French). Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
4. ^ "France begins trial of compulsory civic service for teens". France 24. 16 June 2019.
5. ^ Williamson, Lucy (26 June 2019). "France's raw recruits sign up for return of national service". BBC News.
6. ^ [1] Archived 5 April 2004 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ "Direction des Ressources et des Compétences de la Police Nationale / Organisation - Police nationale - Ministère de l'Intérieur" (in French). Interieur.gouv.fr. Archived from the original on 15 May 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
8. ^ Olech, Aleksander (2022). "French and Polish fight against terrorism". Poznan. p. 89.
9. ^ "Direction départementale de la sécurité publique (DDSP) - Pas-de-Calais - Annuaire". lannuaire.service-public.fr (in French). Retrieved 20 April 2021.
10. ^ "Official announcement of the DCRI's launch on the website of the French Ministry of the Interior". Archived from the original on 3 August 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
11. ^ "Nouvelle page 0". Littlegun.info. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
12. ^ Ayoob, Massad F. (2004). "The Gun Digest Book of SIG-Sauer: A Complete Look at SIG-Sauer Pistols". Gun Digest. p. 80.
13. ^ "More SIG SP2022s For French Police -". 5 December 2018.

Further reading

• Berlière, Jean-Marc. "Police Française Histoire de la" [French Police History of the]. Encyclopedia Universalis.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Police Nationale and Police of France.

• Official site of the French National Police (in French)
• Official site of the French Ministry of Interior (in French)
• Unofficial site of the National Police (in French)