National police (France)

In France, the national police is a force of police force to military statute subordinated until the end of the year 2008 to the ministry for Defense for the military missions and under supervision of the Ministère of the Interior for the missions of police force (the National police force depends on the ministry for the Interior which will take under its entiére supervision the gendarmerie on January 1st, 2009). The emergency number of the gendarmerie is the same one as that of the police force: 17 or 112.

The gendarmes are usually in charge of the maintenance of law and order in the rural areas, the zones known as “perish-urban” like in reinforcement in the big cities and in particular in Paris, whereas the National police force is charged quasi exclusively urban areas. The limit of competence between the two police force is fixed at the threshold of 20.000 inhabitants.

The gendarmerie ensures of the various missions which make its specificity:

  • administrative Missions: maintenance of law and order, assistance and help, road traffic, administrative police force.

  • legal Missions: seek authors of infringements to the criminal law, enquiry judicial.
  • military Missions: organizes military, prévôté and external missions.

January 1st, 2009, the national police will leave the ministry for Defense to integrate the ministry for the Interior. The gendarmes should preserve their military statute but while raising completely of the minister in charge for the Interior (recruitments, nominations, careers, remunerations…).

History

The national police is the heiress of a body of soldiers in charge of the law and order. This body, created in 1337, was placed under the orders of the Connétable of France, then after the removal of this office in 1626, of the Marshals of France, it thus bore the name of connétablie , then of Maréchaussée . In 1536 the edict of Paris specified its missions, in particular the monitoring of main road. The members of the constabulary carried the title of “provost of the marshals” and were organized in Brigades (4 to 5 men all 15 to 20 km) starting from 1720.

The term of gendarmerie comes from men-at-arms , synonymous with man-at-arms and which indicates at the end of the Moyen-âge and at the beginning of the modern time the heavy Cavalerie. With the decline of the cavalry, the Gendarmerie of France became an army corps compared to the military household of the king. In 1720 the constabulary was placed under the administrative authority of the gendarmerie of France, which explains why in 1791 the constabulary was famous “national police”.

The gendarmerie is governed by two laws:

  • (repealed by the Code of Defense) law of the 28 germinal year VI (April 17th, 1798)
  • organic decree of May 20th, 1903

Participation in the conflicts:

  • it there 5 battles registered on the flag
    • Battle of Hondschoote 1793 - 400 gendarmes of the 32°division are engaged in the left wing of the army. They seize enemy artillery. They lose 117 men.
    • Villodrigo 1812 - the 1°légion of Gendarmerie with horse, pertaining to the Brigade of Cavalry of the Army of North, runs up against the English cavalry on October 23rd. Charging with the saber, it inserts the enemy lines, making 250 killed and 85 prisoners. Colonel Béteille, ordering the brigade, receives 12 blows of saber and survives his wounds.
    • Taguin 1843 - 30 Gendarmes with horse are mobilized to take part in the tracking of the tribe of the emir Abd-El-Kader and take part in his capture. On the fabric of Vernet which immortalise the scene (Museum of Versailles), the Gendarmes are reproduced in the sides of the Duke of Aumale, wire of king Louis-Philippe I°.
    • Sébastopol 1855 - 2 battalions of the Regiment of Gendarmerie to foot of the Imperial Guard take part in the seat of the city. The 1°bataillon removes a strategic position says “white work” to the price of raised losses, and contributes its share to the final victory. 153 Gendarmes leave their life in this countryside.
    • Indo-China 1945/1954 - 3 Legions of Republican guard of walk are raised at the end of 1946. Charged with forming an Civil guard of Cochinchine, to assume missions of safety, to fill of the provostal missions, to supervise the borders, they post heavy losses: 654 killed or disappeared, 1500 wounded. That is worth with the flag of the Gendarmerie a Military Cross TOE with two palms.
(Description extracted the large historical gold book from the gendarmerie and the historical service from the gendarmerie) “Honor and Fatherland, Value and Discipline”, currency resulting from the regrouping of the flag of the anti-riot police and the departmental gendarmerie.

In 2002, in accordance with commitments entered into by Jacques Chirac at the time of her countryside for the presidential election of 2002, the forces of gendarmerie were attached to the ministry for the interior for their missions of internal security. The gendarmes continued however to raise of the military statute. The brigades were reorganized in brigade communities with the broader sphere of activity. The Law of orientation and programming for the internal security also took part in a new distribution of the forces of gendarmerie and police force in France.

Directed by Pierre Mutz until in 2004, the National police is now by the General Guy Parayre. It is the first time that a soldier occupies this function since 1947. The civilians having occupied this function previously came traditionally either from the magistrature or of the prefectoral body.

Organization

The gendarmerie is divided into several trades. It is present on the whole of the French territory and carries out military missions abroad.

Manpower 2005: 103.866 personnel. The military personnel of the national police divides itself into:

  • 4.169 officers and 75.842 warrant officers of gendarmerie;

  • 154 officers and 3.729 warrant officers of the technical and administrative body;
  • 15.757 volunteers Candidate S resulting from voluntariate (AGIV) and voluntary assistant gendarmes (GAV);
  • 2.011 civil personnel divides itself into civils servant, workmen of State and contractual;
  • 40.000 personal of reserve used according to the needs for the service (objective 2012). At the end of 2007,25.000 men and women signed an engagement to be useful in reserve (E.S.R.).

List various subdivisions of weapon of the Gendarmerie

Head office of the National police

She is installed since 1969 rue St Didier in XVIe district of Paris. However, the expansion with the passing of years made necessary a deployment on eleven other sites distributed on the capital and it outskirts of the city to Malakoff (92) or Issy-les-Moulineaux (92) to Pontoise (95) or Rosny-sous-Bois (93). The DGGN ensures the direction of the formations and units in charge of the fight against the road insecurity. It works out the doctrines of employment, directs and coordinates their action.

Departmental gendarmerie

The departmental gendarmerie is with the regular contact of the population. It ensures mainly of the missions of Judicial police or administrative police force. It is called white the , because of the color of his badges.

The basic organization is the gendarmerie squad, including/understanding from 6 to 40 people, generally located at the level of the canton. The brigades can be organized in brigade communities with a unit of chief town and brigades of proximity or in autonomous brigades.

Each brigade is in charge of the monitoring day and night with one or several communes as well as reception with the public. The gendarmes there receive the complaints, carry out the administrative surveys and legal and in a general way answer the emergency calls.

The brigades of a Arrondissement form a company. The companies of a department form a grouping and the groupings of a administrative Région form a area since the territorial reorganization of July 1st, 2005. Previously the areas took the name of “legions”. One counts 22 areas of departmental gendarmerie today.

Thus, each hierarchical level of the departmental gendarmerie corresponds to a level of the administration of the territory. Each hierarchical level is ordered by an officer, person in charge of the units of the departmental gendarmerie placed under its spring. It is the corresponding one in load of the public safety of the administrative authority.

There exist approximately 3.600 brigades.

In addition to the brigades, the departmental gendarmerie comprises units specialized in certain missions:

  • the groups of monitoring and intervention of the gendarmerie (PSIG), gathered within the Police companies Secondary road provide patrols which intervene in reinforcement of the brigades. Either to increase the number of patrols in the streets, or to face event private individuals (interpellations, search for criminals…). One finds a PSIG by district in general.

  • motorized units , gendarmes motorcylcists in charge of the monitoring of the highway network; they do not depend on the company but on the Departmental Squadron of Road safety (EDSR = qualified on the whole of the department of establishment). One finds there the Highway Brigades Motorized, Groups and the Fast Brigades of Intervention, according to the EDSR.

  • the brigades and research departments (Br on the level of the districts, BDRIJ on the level of the departments and SR on the level of the Court of Appeal), are made up only of judiciary police officers. They are exclusively in charge of the missions of judicial police. They assist the brigades, ensure the police operations technical and take into account the direction of the important investigations; they are in charge of the investigations touching with the average and the great delinquency.

  • the reservists of the departmental Gendarmerie takes part in the daily newspaper with the reinforcement of the units of departmental Gendarmerie of active. They are organized in PRGD (group of reserve of departmental gendarmerie). Initially one found a PRGD by departmental squad of Gendarmes (1 per department).

This organization is in the course of modification with the recasting of the PRGD in PRSIG (group of reserve of monitoring and intervention of the gendarmerie) in order to better adapt to the needs and the reinforcement of the units. The PRSIG are more and more frequently associated with a company and either limited to 1 by grouping.

Anti-riot police

See also: Anti-riot police

Units of gendarmerie presenting a character of specialized employment

Specialized units of gendarmerie

Warrant officers of the bodies of technical support and administrative of the gendarmerie

  • Arms manufacture (ARM)

  • real Businesses (AI)
  • Printers (IL)
  • Administration and Staff management (AGP)
  • Logistic and Financial Management (GLF)
  • armor-plated Car-machines (AEB)
  • Male nurses (MITHA)
  • collective Restoration (RC)
  • (repealed die) Exploiting Telecommunications (etc).

Description of certain subdivisions

Republican guard

See also: Republican guard (France)

It is mission leader of safety and honor to the profit of the high ranking authorities of the State and the institutions. It is the only armed force authorized in the national palates. The guards are present at the Elysium, the Senate and the National Assembly, the law courts, Matignon and in the principal ministries. The Republican guard is made up of a state major, of two regiments of infantry and a regiment of cavalry. The squadron motorcylcist is attached to the first regiment as well as the music of infantry. The members of its groups of intervention reinforce regularly, in a specific way, the interpellation or particular transfer, and gendarmerie, of maintenance mission police force of the order, for example.

GIGN

The Grouping of intervention of the national police (ex-Grouping of safety and intervention of the national police) composed of approximately 320 people (23 officers of career and a little more than 300 warrant officers of gendarmerie) especially is involved and equipped to face perilous missions. Installed in Versailles, GIGN includes/understands:

  • the Training center whose missions are summarized with the training of foreign trainees in the fields of protection and the intervention and with the training of the gendarmes affected in embassies or carrying out missions of protection
  • the Groupe of intervention of the national police (GIGN), created in 1974
  • the Escadron parachutist of intervention of the national police (EPIGN)
  • the Groupe of Safety of the Presidency of the Republic (GSPR).

From on September 1st, 2007, GSIGN changes form and becomes the " nouveau" GIGN.

IRCGN

The Research institute criminal of national police (IRCGN) is located at Rosny-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis, 93). The unit gendarmerie of identification of the victims of catastrophes (UGIVC), member of the National unit of identification of the victims of catastrophes (UNIVC), formed integral part of IRCGN.

Cigaville, town of drive

Cigaville is an artificial city of drive for the missions of the Gendarmerie located at Saint-Astier in the Dordogne, in the enclosure of the CNEFG. The whole of the EGM (Platoon of gendarmeses Mobile) of France come periodically in evaluation. It is in this center that are also exempted the whole of the formations having milked with the professional intervention of the soldiers of the Gendarmerie.

Behavior

Since the bicornuate hat tricorn then the gendarmes remained faithful to the Képi a long time. Despite everything, a recasting of the behavior is committed in 2004 to equip the gendarmes with new uniforms, more practical. In this new behavior, a cap replaces the Képi which is used more only for the missions of representation.

The uniform of servicing carried until 2004 had not evolved/moved since 1990 with the appearance of the pullover and a microporous black jacket. The new behavior is more modern and more comfortable at the time of the many external services under all the climatic conditions. It is composed of a jacket to the nuances blue and black with serigraphies “gendarmerie”, of a polar jacket taking again the general pace of the current sweater and of a blue sports shirt sky “standard Lacoste” sleeves short or long (for the behavior winter). The pants resemble the pants of lattice, but of color blue sinks. The shoes are flexible rangers. This behavior goes with a new cap “standard golf” and not “Police type” with an apparent grenade embroidered gold or money according to the subdivision of weapon. The behavior is also equipped with a new belt with fast fastener and with a specific case for the new weapon of service Sig-Sauer Pro 2022.

This behavior will be deployed in the units until 2006. It does not make obstacle with the port of the old behaviors for the service of public relation (meeting, catch of weapon, delegation, etc) and administrative.

In certain units of gendarmerie such as the armor-plated Grouping of the national police in Versailles, the forage cap known as " calot" replace the cap.

The network radio operator RUBY of the Gendarmerie

The National police is equipped with a radio operator telecommunications network: since 1978 SAPPHIRE existed the analog network (vocal + given to 1,2 kbits/s), there was supplemented in 1986 by the numerical network cellular RUBY whose installation was completed in 2000. This new infrastructure, which replaces the old analog links of the radio SAPPHIRE component, is equipped with 420 relays radio operator associates with 740 links microwave (fixed FH in bands 2,5 and 15 GHz. Negotiations are in hand between the ARCEP and the Ministry for Defense concerning the band 2,5 GHz so that it is restored with the ARCEP for the increasing requirements in connections for infrastructures for operators GSM).

All the mobile transmissions of RUBY are made safe by a secret software encoding classified defense. The algorithm is programmed in the EEPROM Flash of each mobile and portable station (post offices Matra 9600). A destruction of the code is envisaged in case of theft equipment or of illegal intrusion on the network (remote obliteration of memory EEPROM).

Network radio operator PMR RUBY (bands duplex 73,300 to 74,800 MHz and 77,475 to 80,000 MHz) ensures the interconnection of 37.000 radio operator transportables and 11.700 computers fixed or embarked in vehicles. The protocol of transmission for the data and the phone is in conformity with standard TETRAPOL validated by the ETSI. The modulation is of type GMSK similar to system GSM. The technique of multiplexing makes it possible to have 400 channels on a tape of 10 MHz (multiplexing AMRF). Channels VHF are designed to convey four categories of communications:

  • relayed operational Connections duplex
  • Connections duplex of relayed conferences
  • not relayed tactical Connections
  • Connections of transport and way marks out

The network RUBY consists of 97 controlled cells radio each one by an automatic exchange (a cell manages all the relays of the department). Two bands (2,50 to 2,67 GHz and 15 GHz) are used for the technical FH of the network. According to the ARCEP, in the not too distant future, the military FH located in window 2,50 to 2,67 GHz should migrate towards the band of 15 GHz in order to meet the increasing requirements in connections for infrastructures for operators GSM. The technical connections of RUBY are a multiplexing MIC32 with 2 Mbits/s made up of 32 numerical ways distributed according to the following plan:

  • IT0: teleexploitation and shunt track.
  • IT1 to 6: ways phone of the radio operator equipment.
  • IT7: sees of order of the IRD (Interface Distant Relay).
  • IT8 to 13: ways phone.
  • IT14: sees data.
  • IT15 to 20: ways phone.
  • IT21: sees data remote loading of CS (Secondary Switch).
  • IT22 to 31: ways not used.

Interfaces towards phone networks STN and ISDN and network TRANSPAC of France Telecom are envisaged. An interface with the telegraphic SAPPHIRE component is also made for the following functions:

  • Management of the network RUBY since the CNS.
  • Management of the secret elements since the CDES.
  • Consultation of the databases and files.

The CDES (Center of Diffusion of the Secret Elements) in charge of the encoding of the transmissions and the CNS (National center of Supervision) in charge of the exploitation with the networks RUBY are in Rosny-sous-Bois close to Paris. The CNS lodges the waiters of the central data bases, it is inter-connected with the departmental cells by networks X25 and Transfix from France Telecom.

All the technical infrastructure of the network RUBY was carried out by the group Matra Communication and EADS in collaboration with the Ministry for Defense.

Cinema

There exists a series of famous films on the gendarmerie, with in particular Louis de Funès in the main role: ( the Gendarme of Saint-Tropez , the Gendarme trotts of it…). On television, two series are centered on the gendarmerie: a woman of honor and Research department .

Abroad

Linguistics ( men-at-arms ) obviously locates the birth of the gendarmerie in French-speaking if not French territory. The concept nevertheless was spread and continuous to exist in several territories French-speaking, but also not-French-speaking people.

“Amusing” example of the export of this concept: in Turkey, the term gendarme was turquisé in Jandarma , because in Turkish language the syllables cannot finish with two successive consonants. In addition to this exception, the word is not that a phonetic transcription, the word “armed” in Turkish has the same direction which arms in French with all his directions.

FIEP

The French gendarmerie is founding member of FIEP, association euro-Mediterranean gathering the comparable gendarmeries and forces.

Appendices

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