Sûreté

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sûreté (French for "security") is a term used in French-speaking countries or regions in the organizational title of a civil police force.

Also the former title of the French National Police as La Sûreté Nationale. It merely served as the criminal investigative bureau of the Paris police and did not function as a command and control organization. It was founded by Francois-Eugene Vidocq in 1812 and headed until 1827. It is the direct ancestor of Criminal Investigation Department of Scotland Yard, the FBI and other departments of criminal investigation throughout the world. Vidocq was convinced that crime could not be controlled by then-current police methods, so he organized a special branch of the criminal division modeled on Napoleon's political police. The force was to work undercover and its early members consisted largely of reformed criminals. By 1820 – eight years after its formation – it had blossomed into a 30-man team of experts that had decreased the crime rate in Paris by 40%.