National police force (France)

In France, the national police force is a civil body of police force. It is attached to the ministry for the interior. The national police officers are civils servant of the State.

The emergency number of the national police force is the 17 or the 112 . The call is free and the service is open 7 days over 7,24 hours out of 24.

Base of the national police force

The creation of this trade derives from the declaration of the human rights and the citizen of 1789, which has constitutional value.

  • Article 12: “ the guarantee of the human rights and the citizen requires a police force: this force is thus instituted for the advantage of all, and not for the particular utility of those to which she is entrusted . ”

Missions of the national police force

A definition of the missions of the national police force was given article 1 of the Code of conduct of the national police force: “ the national police force contributes, on the whole of the territory, to the guarantee of freedoms and the defense of the institutions of the republic, with the maintenance of peace and the law and order and with the protection of the people and the goods. ”.

Thereafter, the missions of the national police force were defined in a restrictive way by the law January 21st, 1995. Its article 4 enumerate them as follows:

  • the fight against the Urban violences, small the Delinquency and the road insecurity;
  • the control of the irregular immigration and the fight against the use of the clandestine ones;
  • the fight against the drug, the organized criminality and the great economic delinquency and financial;
  • the protection of the country against the Terrorism and the attacks with the fundamental interests of the Nation;
  • the public maintenance of law and order.

It specifies that “ these missions must be carried out in the respect of the Code of conduct of the national police force ”.

The law of August 29th, 2002, known as " Law Sarkozy I" , confirms these missions.

History

See also: History of the French police force

Name “national police force” was given to an administration for the first time under the Régime of Vichy by the law of the April 23rd 1941. This law places the municipal police under the authority of the prefects instead of the mayors (except for the Parisian police force already under authority of the State since Colbert and Gabriel Nicolas of Reynie). The structures of the police force are then chamboulées and its various clearly identified missions: judicial police, general informations (RG) and public safety. The territory is divided on three scales: the area is associated to the regional prefect, the district (a department) with the prefect, the district with the police chief.

This organization will be preserved by the {{IVe}} and {{Ve}} République.

This administration is replaced in 1944 by the National security and, finally, the law of the July 10th 1966 creates the current National police force including the Police headquarter of Paris (created by the law of the July 9th 1964).

Middle of the 20th century with 1984, the national police force took part in the urgent Medical assistance with its component organizes help, task now reserved for the Sapeurs-pompiers. However, the CRS always take part in the Mountain rescue and the monitoring of the beaches.

Organization of the national police force

The national police force depends on the ministry for the interior of which it constitutes one of the directions, the DGPN (Head office of the national police force). There exists an exception to Paris, where it is managed by the Police headquarter (PP) which acts under the direct authority of the Minister of Interior Department.

Police officers

There exist four types of civils servant working in the national police force:

  • Active (those commonly called " policiers" , approximately 130.000 civils servant)
  • Administrative (approximately 12.000)
  • Scientific (approximately 1.100)
  • Technical (approximately 2.700)

Active civils servant

In France, since 1995, the distinction between the police force called “in behavior” and the police force called “as a civilian” attenuated. With this reform also certain names as inspector and officer disappeared from peaces replaced by the body of the police officers. In the same way, the body of the investigators of police force disappeared and was integrated into the Corps of framing and application. The active services of the national police force are divided into three hierarchical bodies, each one of them being distributed in several ranks:
  • the Directing body of design and direction
    • of the Active Services
    • General inspector
    • General inspector
    • Police chief of Police force
    • Police chief of Police force ( rank removed in 2006. )
    • training Police superintendent
    • Police superintendent ( is not a rank strictly speaking )
    • Elève Police superintendent ( is not a rank strictly speaking )

  • the body of command

    • Police commander
    • Captain of Police force
    • Lieutenant de Police
    • training Lieutenant de Police ( is not a rank strictly speaking )
    • Elève Police officer ( is not a rank strictly speaking )

  • the Body of framing and application

    • Sergeant-Major de Police
    • Lance sergeant de Police ( rank removed into 95 restored the 10/1/04 )
    • Sergeant of Police force
    • Lance-corporal of Police force ( is not a rank but a simple recognition for the policemen being 12 years old of seniority )
    • Policeman
    • training Policeman ( is not a rank strictly speaking )
    • Elève Policeman ( is not a rank strictly speaking )

Since 1997, the assistants of safety are recruited for five years maximum by the prefects and take part in the missions of the national police force. Since 2005, in the logic of the policy of the equal opportunity, a body of Cadet by the Republic is created, supporting the access to the entrance examination in the national police force.

Administrative civils servant

They are divided into four hierarchical bodies, each one of them being distributed in several ranks:
  • attaches of police force
  • administrative secretaries
  • administrative assistants
  • the administrative officers

Scientific officers

They are divided into three hierarchical bodies:
  • engineers of laboratory
  • technicians of laboratory
  • specialized agents of technical and scientific police force

Technical civils servant

They are divided into three hierarchical bodies:
  • engineers of the Communication and Information systems
  • technicians of the Communication and Information systems
  • agents of the Communication and Information systems

Two other bodies are added to it:

  • agents of service
  • workmen/cooks

Legal enablings

Pursuant to the criminal procedure code, the judicial police is exerted under the direction of the Public prosecutor, the monitoring of the Public prosecutor and controls it Chambre of the instruction. When a Examining magistrate is indicated, the police officers lead their investigations under his authority.

Each national police officer obtains at the conclusion of his schooling a legal qualification according to his rank:

  • assistant Agent of judicial police to the article 21-1ter of the criminal procedure code for the Associated safety.
  • assistant Agent of judicial police in article 21-1 of the criminal procedure code for the Policemen training.
  • Agent of judicial police in article 20 or Judiciary police officer in article 16 of the criminal procedure code (after additional examination) for the policemen and graded.
  • Judiciary police officer in article 16 of the criminal procedure code for the officers and the police superintendents as well as the civils servant of the body of framing and application of the national police force at least cash three years of services in this body, indicated by name by decree of the ministers for justice and the interior, after assent of a commission.

To note that the police superintendents and certain police officers also exert functions of magistrate as a Officier of the public ministry (OMP), under the authority of the public prosecutor.

One needs moreover distinguish the legal qualification, of enabling to exert it, this one being granted by the public prosecutor close the Court of Appeal and only if the civil servant works in a legal service (DCPJ, Commissariats…). Enabling being temporarily withdrawn in the event of change in a service not using this qualification, the such general informations.

Structures

The Head office of the national police force (DGPN)

Frederic Péchenard is managing director since May 23rd, 2007. He succeeds Michel Gaudin.

Seven active directions

Two active services

Two administrative services and of contôle

Eight specialized units
  • Service of information and communication of the national police force (SICoP)
  • Service of operational day before national police force (SVOPN)
  • the Delegation of assistance to the victims (DAV)
  • the Mission of fight against drugs (MILAD)
  • the Unit of coordination of the fight anti-terrorist (UCLAT)
  • Security service of the ministry for interior (SMI)
  • automobile Central service (SCA)
  • the Research unit, assistance, intervention and dissuasion (RAID)

Two administrative public corporations
  • the 3Ecole Nationale Sup3erieure of police force (ENSP)
  • the National institute of scientific police (INPS)

Police headquarter of Paris (PP)

See also: Police headquarter of Paris

Michel Gaudin is the Prefect of police of Paris since May 23rd, 2007.

PP has six directions of police force which lay out, on the territory of Paris, of the same missions and capacities that the services of DGPN.

  • the Management of the urban police force of proximity (DPUP)
  • the Management of the law and order and circulation (DOPC)
  • the Regional management of the judicial police (DRPJ), qualified on Paris and the three departments of the Small crown
  • the Regional management of general informations (DRRG)
  • Management opérationnele of the engineering services and logistics (DOSTL)
  • Inspections general of the services, qualified on Paris and the three departments of the Small crown

Police deviances and control of the police force

See also: police Bur in France

The police officers national can make errors, faults even infringements with the criminal law. Contrary to other civils servant, these behaviors can have tragic consequences because the national police force has the legal and material means to exert the force.

Two monitoring services are in charge to inform the businesses concerning the police deviances as well from the point of view of the internal discipline as from the point of view of the criminal law:

  • the qualified General inspection of the services on the departments of Paris, of the Hauts-de-Seine, the Seine-Saint-Denis and the Valley-of-Marne.
  • the General inspection of the national police force qualified on the remainder of the French territory.

In addition to these two services, the National ethics commission of safety can study the businesses of which it is seized which relates to failures with the rules of deontology for the whole of the public or deprived security forces. It with the possibility of hearing the whole of the parts. It publishes an annual report where it returns account as of its investigations and puts forth recommendations.

Victims of the duty

See also: Victim of the duty

Each year of many police officers find death in service and are described as victims of the duty.

Circumstances

The most frequent cases must with Road accidents often at the time of contôles of state highway patrol, race-continuations or to go on the interventions. The exaggerated ones cut off and/or alienated are also the cause of many deaths.

Localization

The Paris region is particularly touched as well as the South-east of France. It is necessary to see there the consequence of great concentrations of population (and thus of police officer) but also a delinquency and a criminality which gallops in the great agglomerations of the South.

Numbers

In the Eighties one counted often more than one score of police officers killed per annum. Since ten year the number of victims of the duty drops to be stabilized between 5 and 10 victims per annum. That is with the modernization of the means of protection individual one (Bullet-proof jacket) and with an improvement of initial trainings and continuous. The suicide is also a cause of many deaths. Suicide rate in the police officers but also in the gendarmes is higher than the French average.

Notes and references of the article

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