Direction Régionale de Police Judiciaire de Paris

The Direction Régionale de Police Judiciaire de Paris (DRPJ Paris), often called the 36, quai des Orfèvres or simply the 36 by the address of its headquarters, is the division of the Police judiciaire in Paris. Its 2,200 policemen investigate about 15,000 crimes and offences a year.[1]

The Police judiciaire, abbreviated PJ, is the criminal investigation division of the Police nationale.

36, quai des Orfèvres is often erroneously believed to be the address of the Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciaire, the national authority of the criminal police, which is actually located at the 11, rue des Saussaies, in the buildings of the Ministry of the Interior.

Contents

History

The PJ is the direct successor of the Sûreté, which was founded in 1812 by Eugène François Vidocq as the criminal investigative bureau of the Paris police. The Sûreté served latter as an inspiration for Scotland Yard, the FBI and other departments of criminal investigation throughout the world.

In its modern form, the parisian PJ was created by a decree by Celestin Hennion, the then préfet de police and father of the elite mobile police units called Brigades du Tigres. Unique for their time, they were created with the support of Georges Clémenceau, who was nicknamed "le tigre" (the Tiger). It explains why the PJ emblem consists of a stylized tiger's head.

The PJ should move to the Batignolles neighborhood, in a new building due to be completed in 2015[2] and shared with the Tribunal de grande instance, Paris's main tribunal. However, the project is criticized because of its cost and the historic status of the 36.[3]

Mandate

The Paris PJ comes under the control of the Préfecture de Police and operates over its territorial jurisdiction, which includes the city of Paris but also the three adjacent departments of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne.

Under the direction and supervision of the judiciary, it is responsible for the fight against criminality and delinquency and for the implementation of all technical, scientific and operational police resources needed for the inquiries. It investigates cases which involve a large scale of crimes and infractions like drug trafficking, prostitution, racketeering, kidnapping, organised crime (either criminal or financial activities), hostage taking, bomb attacks, sexual assaults, or homicides.

Organization

The Paris PJ services and units are:

The DPJ have the qualifications to investigate every kind of crime and infraction committed over their territory, while the central brigades take the most complex cases in their area of qualification and can operate anywhere.

Due to the lack of space, only a few services are still located in the historic building of the 36, quai des Orfèvres. Are there the état-major, the Brigade criminelle, the Brigade des stupéfiants and the BRI. The other brigades and services are spread in several buildings throughout Paris.

In fiction and films

Because of its history and its iconic status within the French police, the 36 and its services have often been described in novels, films and TV series.

See also

References