| National Police Police Nationale |
|
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | July 9, 1966 |
| Preceding agency | Sûreté Nationale (1944 - 1966) |
| Employees | 145,699 (in April 2008) |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| National agency | France |
| France (Metropolitan and Overseas Territories) | |
| Size | 551,695 km² |
| Population | 65 million (approx.) |
| Governing body | Government of France |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Overviewed by | Direction générale de la police nationale |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
| Minister responsible | Brice Hortefeux, Ministry of the Interior |
| Agency executive | Frédéric Péchenard, Director-General |
| Directorates |
11
|
| Facilities | |
| Helicopters | 45 |
| Website | |
| (French) www.interieur.gouv.fr/police_nationale | |
The National Police (French: police nationale), formerly the Sûreté Nationale, is one of two national police forces and the main civil law enforcement agency of France, with primary jurisdiction in cities and large towns. The other main agency is the military Gendarmerie, with primary jurisdiction in smaller towns and rural and border areas. The National Police comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior and has about 145,699 employees (in April 2008).
The National Police operate mostly in large cities and towns. In that context:
Contents |
The police is commanded by the director-general (directeur général de la police nationale) who is currently Frédéric Pechenard. The director-general is directly in charge of the DGPN (Direction Générale de la Police nationale, in English "General Directorate of the National Police") [1]:
The police is then sub-divided into directorates:
As of 1 July 2008, the following two National Police directorates:
were merged into one single domestic intelligence agency titled the Direction centrale du renseignement intérieur (DCRI). The DCRI was placed directly under the Ministry of the Interior.[1] The current director is Bernard Squarcini, then the director of the DST, who had also formerly served as second-in-command of the RG.
The National Police is divided into three corps, in the terminology of the French Civil Service, in ascending order of seniority:
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 plain-clothes officers were given the training and authority to conduct investigations. The closest Anglo-American equivalent is the detective.
The powers of making a full arrest, hearing suspects, overseeing searches ordered by the judiciary, etc., are restricted to members of the police or the gendarmerie with the qualification of "officer of judiciary police" (officier de police judiciaire or OPJ). Other officers are only "agents of judiciary police" (agents de police judiciaire or APJ) and have only limited authority, restricted to assisting the officers. See Law enforcement in France.
In 1935, 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 was used, 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.
In 1951, a standardisation was performed on the RR 51[2] in 7.65 mm, and on the MAS-38 and MAT-49 for submachine guns. From 1953, in the context of heightening violence of the Algeria War, CRS units were upgraded to the 9mm MAC Mle 1950
From the early 1960, large-caliber revolvers were introduced, culminating with the introduction of the Manurhin MR 73 and the Ruger SP-101. In the 80s, a process to standardise on revolvers was initiated. The 1970s also saw the introduction of assault rifles (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 9mm Parabellum cartridge. For some years, the standard sidearm in the French Police National and the Gendarmerie Nationale was the Beretta 92FS. In 2003 both agencies made the biggest small arms contract since the Second World War[3] for about 250,000 SIG SP 2022, a custom-tailored variant of the Sig Pro. The weapons are planned to stay in service until the year 2022.
While the vast majority of vehicles are screenprinted French brand (mainly Renault, Citroen and Peugeot), some service vehicles are provided by Ford and Opel. Plain clothes officers or specialised branches use vehicles from a variety of builders.