Prefecture of Police

Préfecture de Police

Area covered
Area City of Paris & Petite Couronne in the Île-de-France region
Size 762 km²
Population 6,557,500 (Jan. 1, 2007)
Operations
Formed 1667, disbanded in 1789, refounded in 1800
HQ Paris
Officers 34,000
Districts 15
Stations 87
Préfet de Police Michel Gaudin
Website Préfecture de Police

The Prefecture of Police (French: Préfecture de Police), headed by the Prefect of Police (Préfet de Police), is an agency of the Government of France (and part of the French National Police) which provides the police force for the city of Paris and the surrounding three suburban départements of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, and Val-de-Marne. It is also in charge of emergency services, such as the Paris Fire Brigade, and performs administrative duties, such as issuing ID cards and driver licenses or monitoring alien residents. The Prefecture of Police also has limited security duties in the wider Île-de-France région.

The prefecture is a large building located in the Île de la Cité.

As it is the capital of France, with government assemblies and offices and foreign embassies, Paris poses special issues of security and public order. Consequently, the national government has been responsible for providing law enforcement and emergency services since the creation of the Lieutenancy General of Police (lieutenance générale de police) by Louis XIV on March 15, 1667. Disbanded at the start of the French Revolution in 1789, it was replaced by the current Prefecture of Police created by Napoléon I on February 17, 1800. This means that Paris does not have its own police municipale and that the Police Nationale provides these services directly as a subdivision of France's Ministry of the Interior.

Contents

Jurisdiction

The jurisdiction of the Prefecture of Police was initially the Seine département. Its jurisdiction also included the communes (municipalities) of Saint-Cloud, Sèvres, Meudon, and Enghien-les-Bains, which were located in the Seine-et-Oise département. These four communes were added in the 19th century to the jurisdiction of the Prefecture of Police in order to ensure special protection of the imperial/royal residences located there.

The Seine département was disbanded in 1968 and the jurisdiction of the Prefecture of Police is now the city of Paris (which is both a commune and a département) and the three surrounding départements of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne. This territory made up of four départements is larger than the pre-1968 Seine département.

The Prefecture of Police also has limited jurisdiction over the whole Île-de-France région for the coordination of law enforcement. The Prefect of Police, acting as Prefect of the Defense Zone of Paris (Préfet de la Zone de Défense de Paris), is in charge of planning non-military defense measures to keep public order, guarantee the security of public services, and organize rescue operations (in case of natural disaster) for the whole Île-de-France région (which is made up of eight départements, the four inner ones being the regular jurisdiction of the Prefecture of Police, and the four outer ones being outside of its regular jurisdiction). As such, he coordinates the work of the departmental préfets of Île-de-France.

Nomination and missions

Headed by a prefect titled The "Prefect of Police", who (as are all prefects) is named by the President in the Council of Ministers, and operates under the Minister of the Interior, commands the Prefecture which is responsible for the following:

The Prefect of Police can issue arrêtés (local writs) defining rules pertaining to his field of competency. For instance, the rules of operation and security of Paris public parks are issued as joint arrêtés from the Mayor of Paris and the Prefect of Police.

The current Prefect of Police is Michel Gaudin.

Until 1977, Paris had indeed no mayor and the police was essentially in the hands of the préfet de police. However, the powers of the mayor of Paris were increased at the expense of those of the Préfet de Police in 2002, notably for traffic and parking decisions (the préfet retains the responsibility on main thoroughfares such as the Champs-Élysées avenue, and on any street during the organization of demonstrations).

There is also a prefect of Paris, prefect for the Île-de-France region, whose services handle some tasks not devoted to the Police Prefect, such as certain classes of building permits.

Address

Organization

The PP is headed by a politically appointed prefect who is assisted by the prevote, who is the senor police officer of the force. The Prefecture of Police is divided into three sub-prefectures headed by prefects due to their importance.

Because the Police Prefecture provides some services that are normally provided by city governments, its funding partially comes from the City of Paris and other city governments within its jurisdiction.

In addition to forces from the National Police, the Police Prefecture has traffic wardens or crossing guards who enforce parking rules; it has recently added some wardens that direct traffic at crossroads and other similar duties, known as circulation, with specific uniforms.

Prefect and Director of the Cabinet

Consists of the Cabinet (staff) itself

and 6 Local Directorates:

and other agencies:

Prefect and Secretary General for the Administration of the Police

with four Administrative Directorates:

Prefect and Secretary General for the Zone of Defence

with two agencies:

Resources

Activities

List of lieutenant generals and prefects of police

Before the French Revolution, the head of the Paris Police was the lieutenant général de police, whose office was created in March 1667 when the first modern police force in the world was set up by the government of King Louis XIV to police the city of Paris. The office vanished at the start of the French Revolution and police was vested in the hands of the Paris Commune. Reorganized by Napoléon Bonaparte in 1800, the Paris Police has been headed by the préfet de police since that time.

Lieutenant generals of police

Source: Centre historique des Archives nationales, Série Y, Châtelet de Paris, on page 38 of the PDF.

Prefects of police

Sources: La Grande Encyclopédie, volume 27, page 95, published in 1900. See scan of the full text at Gallica: [1]. / List of Prefects of Paris on rulers.org: [2]. / Archives of Le Monde: [3].

See also

External links

National Gendarmerie
National Police
Other