| National Gendarmerie Gendarmerie nationale |
|
| Logo of the National Gendarmerie. | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1791 |
| Annual budget | €7.7 billion |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| National agency | France |
| Size | 674,843 km² |
| Population | 66 million |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Paris |
| Sworn members | 105,975 (in 2007) |
| Agency executive | Général d'Armée Jacques Mignaux [1], Directeur-Général |
| Regions | 3 |
| Website | |
| gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr/eng/ | |
In France, the National Gendarmerie (French: Gendarmerie nationale) is a branch of the French Armed Forces, in charge of public safety, with police duties among the civilian population. It also contains a military police force and a special forces component (GIGN). It has a strength of more than 105,975 persons (in 2007).[2] The Gendarmerie works with the other national law enforcement agency, the Police Nationale.
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The Gendarmerie is the direct descendant of the Marshalcy of the ancien regime, more commonly known by its French title, the Maréchaussée.
During the Middle Ages, there were two Grand Officers of the Kingdom of France with police responsibilities: The Marshal of France and the Constable of France. The military policing responsibilities of the Marshal of France were delegated to the Marshal's provost, whose force was known as the Marshalcy because its authority ultimately derived from the Marshal. The marshalcy dates back to the Hundred Years War, and some historians trace it back to the early twelfth century.
Another organisation, the Constabulary (French: Connétablie), was under the command of the Constable of France. The constabulary was regularised as a military body in 1337.
Under King Francis I (French: François 1er, who reigned 1515–1547), the Maréchaussée was merged with the Constabulary. The resulting force was also known as the Maréchaussée, or, formally, the Constabulary and Marshalcy of France (French: connétablie et maréchaussée de France), which unlike the constabulary was not a fully military force.
In 1720, the Maréchaussée was officially attached to the Household of the King (Maison du Roi), together with the "gendarmerie" of the time, which was not a police force at all, but a royal bodyguard. During the eighteenth century, the marshalcy developed in two distinct areas: increasing numbers of Marshalcy Companies (compagnies de marechaussée), dispersed into small detachments, were dotted around the French countryside providing law and order, while specialist units provided security for royal and strategic sites such as palaces and the mint (e.g. the garde de la prévôté de l'hôtel du roi and the prévôté des monnaies de Paris.)
While its existence ensured the relative safety of French rural districts and roads, the Maréchaussée was regarded, in contemporary England (which had no effective police force of any nature), as a symbol of foreign tyranny. In 1789, on the eve of the French Revolution, the Maréchaussée numbered 3,660 men divided into small brigades (a "brigade" in this context being a squad of ten to twenty men.)
During the revolutionary period, the Maréchaussée commanders generally placed themselves under the local constitutional authorities. Despite their connection with the king, they were therefore perceived as a force favouring the reforms of the French National Assembly.
As a result, the Maréchaussée Royale was not disbanded but simply renamed as the gendarmerie nationale (Law of 16 February 1791). Its personnel remained unchanged, and the functions of the force remained much as before. However, from this point, the gendarmerie, unlike the Maréchaussée became a fully military force. During the revolutionary period, the main force responsible for policing was the National Guard. Although the Maréchaussée had been the main police force of the ancien regime, the gendarmerie was initially a full-time auxiliary to the National Guard militia.
In 1791 the newly named gendarmerie nationale was grouped into 28 divisions, each commanded by a colonel responsible for three départements. In turn, two companies of gendarmes under the command of captains were based in each department. This territorial basis of organisation continued throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
Under Napoléon, the numbers and responsibilities of the gendarmerie, renamed gendarmerie impériale, were significantly expanded. In contrast to the mounted Maréchaussée, the gendarmerie comprised both horse and foot personnel; in 1800 these numbered approximately 10,500 of the former and 4,500, respectively.
In 1804 the first Inspector General of Gendarmerie was appointed and a general staff established - based in the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honore in Paris. Subsequently special gendarmerie units were created within the Imperial Guard, and for combat duties in French occupied Spain.
Following the Second Restoration of 1815, the gendarmerie was reduced in numbers to about 18,000 and reorganised into departmental legions. Under King Louis Phillippe a "gendarmerie of Africa" was created for service in Algeria and during the Second Empire the Imperial Guard Gendarmerie Regiment was re-established. The majority of gendarmes continued in what was now the established role of the corps - serving in small sedentary detachments as armed rural police. Under the Third Republic the ratio of foot to mounted gendarmes was increased and the numbers directly incorporated in the French Army with a military police role reduced.[3]
In 1901, the École des officiers de la gendarmerie nationale was established to train its officers.
Five battles are registered on the flag of the Gendarmerie:
The gendarmerie is sometimes referred to as the maréchaussée (an old name for the service), and the gendarmes as pandores. The symbol of the gendarmerie is a grenade, which is also worn by the Italian Carabinieri and the Grenadier Guards in Britain. The budget in 2008 was approximately 7.7 billion euros.[4]
Its missions include:
To fulfill the tasks pertaining to internal security, the Minister of the Interior, Internal Security and Local Rights is responsible for the use of the services of the National Gendarmerie. "To this end and in relation with the Minister of Defence, the Minister outlines the duties of the Gendarmerie services, save for the tasks related to criminal investigation, determines the conditions of fulfillment of these duties and the resulting terms of organisation" (decree dated 15 May 2002).[1]
While administratively a part of the French armed forces, and therefore under the purview of the Ministry of Defence, the Gendarmerie is operationally attached to the Ministry of the Interior for its operations within France, and criminal investigations are run under the supervision of prosecutors or investigating magistrates. Its members generally operate in uniform, and, only occasionally, in plainclothes.
In 2002, in accordance with commitments made by Jacques Chirac at the time of his campaign for the 2002 presidential election, the Gendarmerie were attached to the Ministry of the Interior for their duties within France. The gendarmes however retained their military status. The brigades were reorganised and were given a broader sphere of activity. New legislation resulted in a new distribution of Gendarmerie and the police force in France.
The Director-general of the Gendarmerie is appointed by the Council of Ministers, with the rank of Général d'Armée. The current Director-General is Général Jacques Mignaux.
The headquarters of the force, called the Directorate-General of the National Gendarmerie, had been located since 1969 at rue St Didier in the XVI° district of the Paris Metropolis. As it grew, expansion was necessary, and now includes eleven other sites distributed throughout the capital and the outskirts of the city.
The Directorate-General of the national gendarmerie includes: - the general staff, divided into offices and services, - one inspectorate of gendarmerie (IGN), - the inspector-general - three services including/understanding each subdirectorate,
- the judicial enquiries into gendarme misconduct. - the control and the administrative council of the formations of the gendarmerie as well as the economic analysis of the management led by these same formations. - measurements of prevention and control relating to hygiene, the safety and the working conditions.
- the subdirectorate of the organisation and the evaluation, - the subdirectorate of the international co-operation, - the subdirectorate of defence and the law and order, - the subdirectorate of public safety and the road safety, - the subdirectorate of the Criminal Investigation Department.
The Directorate-General takes part in the correct operation of the organisation. It works: - for the units of the ground and with their profit (at the regional level, the areas and the legions are the essential interfaces so that the decisions taken in Paris correspond well to the needs felt on the ground) ; - as a body of decision-making aid political for all that concerns the gendarmerie in police headquarters (budget, employment…).
It employs 2991 active soldiers, 423 civilian volunteers and 363 other personnel (2004 Figures).
The Departmental Gendarmerie, or Gendarmerie Départementale, also named «La Blanche»[5] (The White), conducts local policing functions throughout the French territory. Its territorial divisions are based on the administrative divisions of France, particularly the departments from which the Departmental Gendarmerie derives its name.
It is divided into regions (headed by a general, one for each defence zone), themselves divided into legion s (headed by a colonel, one for each of the 26 administrative region), themselves divided into groupements (one for each of the 100 département, thus the name), themselves divided into compagnies (one for each of the 342 arrondissements).
It maintains gendarmerie stations throughout the rural parts of the territory. In addition, it has specialised units:
In addition, the Gendarmerie has an institute (Institut de recherche criminelle de la gendarmerie nationale) specializing in the investigation of crimes by scientific and technological means.
Note that the research units may be called into action by the judiciary even within cities. As an example, the Paris research section of the Gendarmerie was in charge of the investigations into the vote-rigging allegations in the 5th district of Paris (see corruption scandals in the Paris region).
Gendarmes normally operate in uniform. They may operate in plainclothes only for specific missions and with their supervisors' authorisation.
The Mobile Gendarmerie, or Gendarmerie Mobile, also named « La Jaune » (The Yellow), is currently divided into 7 defensive zones (Zone de Défense). These include the FGMI (La Force de Gendarmerie Mobile et d'Iintervention) located around Paris and six other zones (South-West, West, South-East, East, South and North) located throughout the rest of France. As a whole this is composed of 123 squadrons for a total of 17000 men and women.[6][7]
Its main responsibilities are
Such units may intervene abroad in varied cases such as a hostage crisis or the support of peacekeeping operations.
The civilian tasks of the gendarmes mobiles are similar to those of the police units known as Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité (CRS), for which they are often mistaken. Easy ways to distinguish them include:
It has the following specialised units:
The Republican Guard is a ceremonial unit based in Paris. Their missions include:[10]
Placed under the dual supervision of the Gendarmerie and the Navy, its missions include:[10]
The Air Transport Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie des Transports Aériens) is placed under the dual supervision of the Gendarmerie and the direction of civilian aviation of the transportation ministry, its missions include:[10]
The Air Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie de l'Air) is placed under the dual supervision of the Gendarmerie and the Air Force, it fulfills police and security missions in the air bases, and goes on the site of an accident involving military aircraft.[10]
The Ordnance Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie de l'Armement) fulfills police and security missions in the establishments of the Délégation Générale pour l'Armement (France's defence procurement agency).[10]
The non-metropolitan branches include units serving in the French overseas départements and territories (such as the Gendarmerie of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon), staff at the disposal of independent States for technical co-operation, provost detachments in French bases located in some independent States, Germany, security guards in French embassies and consulates abroad.
They have also served in:
Officiers Généraux (General Officers)
| Grade (Rank) | Insigna Rank |
|---|---|
| Général d'Armée (Army General) |
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| Général de Corps d'Armée (Corps General) |
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| Général de Division (Divisional General) |
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| Général de Brigade (Brigade General) |
Officiers supérieurs (Senior Officers)
| Grade (Rank) |
Insigna Rank Départementale |
Insigna Rank Mobile |
Corps administratif et technique |
Insigna Rank Garde républicaine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colonel (Colonel) |
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| Lieutenant-Colonel (Lieutenant Colonel) |
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| Chef d'Escadron (Squadron Leader) (Major) |
Officiers Subalternes (Junior Officers)
| Grade (Rank) |
Insigna Rank Départementale |
Insigna Rank Mobile |
Corps administratif et technique |
Insigna Rank Garde républicaine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capitaine (Captain) |
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| Lieutenant (Lieutenant) |
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| Sous-Lieutenant (Sub-Lieutenant) (Second Lieutenant) |
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| Aspirant (Aspirant) |
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| Élève Officier (Officer Cadet) |
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Sous-officiers (Sub-Officers)
| Grade (Rank) |
Insigna Rank Départementale |
Insigna Rank Mobile |
Insigna Rank Corps de soutien |
Insigna Rank Garde républicaine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major (Major) (Sergeant Major) |
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| Adjudant-Chef (Chief Adjutant) (Warrant Officer Class One) |
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| Adjudant (Adjutant) (Warrant Officer Class Two) |
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| Maréchal des Logis-Chef (Chief Marshal of Lodgings) (Staff Sergeant) |
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| Gendarme (Gendarme) (Sergeant) |
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| Gendarme Réserviste (Reservist Gendarme) |
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| Élève Sous-officiers (Sub-Officer Cadet) |
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Gendarmes du Rang (Gendarmes of the Ranks)
These lowest ranks are rare since the suspension of conscription.
| Grade (Rank) |
Insigna Rank Départementale & Mobile |
|---|---|
| Gendarme Adjoint Maréchal-des-logis (Deputy Gendarme Marshal of Lodgings) (Sergeant) |
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| Gendarme Adjoint Brigadier Chef (Deputy Gendarme Chief-Brigadier) (Corporal) |
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| Gendarme Adjoint Brigadier (Deputy Gendarme Brigadier) (Lance Corporal) |
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| Gendarme Adjoint 1ère Classe (Deputy Gendarme First Class) |
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| Gendarme Adjoint (Deputy Gendarme) |
The National Gendarmerie consisted of 105,389 personnel units by 31 December 2006. Career gendarmes are either commissioned or non-commissioned officers. The lower ranks consist of auxiliary gendarmes on limited-time/term contracts. The 103,481 military personnel of the National Gendarmerie is divided into:[11]
This personnel mans the following units:
Departemental Gendarmerie:
Gendarmerie Mobile : 123 squadrons
Special Formations:
Other units :
The Gendarmerie nationale's Prospective Centre (CPGN), which was created in 1998 by an ordinance of the Minister for Defence, is one of the gendarmerie's answers to officials' willingness to the modernise the State. Under the direct authority of the general director of the gendarmerie, it is located in Penthièvre barracks on avenue Delcassé in Paris and managed by Mr Frédéric LENICA, (assisted by a general secretary, Colonel LAPPRAND) "maître des requêtes" in the Conseil d'Etat.[12]