Law enforcement in France

History

Organizations

National agencies

• The National Police, formerly called the "Sûreté", is considered a civilian police force. Its origins date back to 1812 and was created by Eugène François Vidocq. In 1966, its name was officially changed to "Police Nationale". It has primary responsibility for major cities and large urban areas. The Police Nationale are under the control of the Ministry of the Interior; its strength is roughly 149,000. The Paris Police Prefecture, directly controlled by the French Minister of the Interior, who are assisted by the "Direction de la Prévention, de la Sécurité et de la Protection" is composed of Agents with municipal police powers titled inspecteurs de sécurité. This is one of the few exceptions to the General Directorate's exclusive control.
• The National Gendarmerie is part of the French armed forces. It has the primary responsibility for policing smaller towns and rural areas as well as the armed forces and military installations, airport security and shipping ports. Being a military force, the gendarmerie has a highly centralized organization structure. It is under the control of both the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior. The Gendarmerie's origin dates back to 1306 when King Philippe le Bel formed the first mounted military police force called the "Maréchaussée". Between 1697 and 1699, King Louis XIV asserted his authority over police in France and the Maréchaussée became the formal law enforcement arm of the country. In February 1791, it was renamed gendarmerie nationale by the revolutionary government of France. It includes a coast guard agency, the Maritime Gendarmerie. Today, there are about 102,000 gendarmes in France.

Other agencies

National level

• The General Directorate for Internal Security came into existence in 2008, initially as the Central Directorate of Internal Intelligence. The DCRI combined two services of the National Police HQ. The Central Directorate for General Intelligence was tasked with intelligence data gathering, classification and analysis. The Directorate for Surveillance of the Territory was a plainclothes operational service tasked with counterespionage, counterterrorism and economic security. In 2014 the DCRI was taken out of the structure of the National Police and directly subordinated to the Ministry of the Interior as a separate agency and the name of the DCRI was changed to General Directorate of Internal Intelligence. The service is informally known as the RG by the abbreviation of the former Central Directorate of General Intelligence.
• The Directorate-general of Customs and Indirect Taxes, a nowadays civilian customs service more commonly known as the "Douanes", under the minister of budget, public accounting and civil servants; its strength is roughly 17,000 customs officers. It operates mainly on a different framework of the other agencies. Its main tasks regarding law enforcement are the fight against drug, counterfeit goods and protected species trafficking, evasion of customs duties, importation of non-compliant goods, alcohol and tobacco smuggling, money laundering and illegal immigration and the surveillance of French borders and territorial waters. It includes a coast guard agency, the Directorate-national of the Customs coast guard ;
• The judicial tax officers of the Directorate-general of Public Finances are armed investigators of the tax administration in charge of repressing serious and potentially dangerous tax crime situations, sometimes linked with organized crime. They are closely working with police and customs services. There are around 50 judicial tax officers;
• The National Forests Office is the continuation of the Water and Forests military corp founded in 1291 and today under both the Ministry of environment and the Ministry of Agriculture. Its main tasks regarding law enforcement are the fight against forest degradation, poaching and pollution, the surveillance of state-owned forests and the control of hunting licenses. Its strength is roughly 8,000 forest rangers;
• The French Office for Biodiversity is mainly responsible for the monitoring of French wildlife. Its main tasks regarding law enforcement include the fight against environment degradation, poaching, pollution and protected species trafficking, the control of hunting and fishing licenses and the surveillance of French national parks and marine parks. Its strength is roughly 3,000 wildlife officers, fishery officers, national park rangers and marine park rangers;
• The Prison Administration is the public service of the Ministry of Justice responsible for the execution of court decisions in criminal matters and to promote the social reintegration of persons entrusted to it by the judicial authority. Its action is based on 187 penitentiary establishments and 104 penitentiary integration and probation services distributed within ten interregional directorates of penitentiary services in mainland France and overseas, placed under the authority of the Department of Prison Administration whose current director is Laurent Ridel. Its strength is roughly 41,000 prison officers. French prison officers are not armed, except when transferring prisoners or when restoring order during prison riots.
• The Directorate general for Maritime affairs, Fisheries and Aquaculture commonly known as the "Affaires maritimes" is the coast guard agency of the State Secretariat for the Sea. Its main tasks regarding law enforcement are the surveillance of marine traffic and fisheries and the fight against marine pollution and poaching at sea. Today there are about 3,000 coast guards of the Maritime Affairs;
• The Railway Security Agency of the SNCF, the Network Protection and Safety Group of the RATP Group and the Support and Protection Group of the RTM Group are responsible for maintaining security in stations, on trains and in subway stations of their respective public transport group. Their powers are far more limited than those of the Police, Gendarmerie and Customs officers. The agents of the GAP are not armed contrary to those of the SuGe and the GPSR. Their combined strength is roughly 4,000 railway security officers. The SNCF, the RATP and the RTM are also employing non-armed controllers in charge of checking the validity of the tickets of the passengers;
• The Metropolitan Support and Assistance Ships of the Navy carry out missions of law enforcement in the French territorial waters, such as the fight against maritime pollution and illegal immigration, acting as a military coast guard agency;
• The military of the Opération Sentinelle are present in sensitive public areas, such as railway stations and tourist zones, to protect them from terrorist threats, also assisting conventional law enforcement agencies. They are mainly military of the Army.

Local level

• The municipal police are the local police of towns and cities in France, dating back to the Middle Ages. The municipal police officers are under the direct authority of the mayor. They may be armed at the request of the mayor and with the approval of the prefect, but it is not always the case. Their main tasks are the maintenance of safety in town, the fight against environment degradation and road traffic offenses and the reinforcement of the National Police and Gendarmerie forces when it is needed. There are roughly 24,000 municipal police officers in 4,555 communities;
• The rural guards are the equivalent of municipal police officers but for smaller towns and villages. They are under the direct authority of the mayor. Like municipal police officers they may be armed at the request of the mayor and with the approval of the prefect, though it is not always the case. They have the same tasks as their urban counterparts. Today, there are roughly 1,000 rural guards in France;
• The public roads surveillance officers are responsible for the fight against road traffic offenses, environment degradation and minor disturbances in towns and cities, under the direct authority of the mayor. They cannot be armed, even with non-lethal weapons, contrary to municipal police officers and rural guards. Today, there are roughly 8,000 surveillance of public road officers;
• The Coastal Protection Agency is a public organisation in charge of the protection of outstanding littoral areas and thus, the fight against environment degradation and poaching on coastal areas. Its officers are employed and paid by local communities but working with the uniform of their agency. The strength of the Coastal protection agency is roughly 1,000 coastline officers;
• The French Nature Reserves is a public organisation in charge of the protection of areas classified nature reserves and thus, the fight against environment degradation. Its officiers are employed and paid by local communities but working with the uniform of their agency. They can only bear non-lethal weapons, contrary to their counterparts of the Coastal Protection Agency. There are less than 1,000 nature reserves officers today in France.
• The Louveterie is one of the oldest law enforcement forces, dating back to 813 when it was founded by Charlemagne. Its officers are independent of each other. Even though their main tasks are the fight against pest and large predators, when it is needed, and the surveillance of driven hunts, they also have law enforcement tasks, such as the fight against poaching and the control of hunting licenses. There are today nearly 2,000 wolfcatchers across the French territory;
• The private guards, despite their denomination, are sworn officers, which can be employed by the local Certified Association for Fishing and Protection of Aquatic Environments, the local Departmental Federation of Hunters or by the municipalities, in natural areas that are under their direct management. They can be employed by strictly private organisations and land owners to work on private properties, but are not regarded as being part of the law enforcement forces in such a case. They are armed officers, allowed to conduct their activities by the prefect and are placed under the authority of the public prosecutor. Their main tasks regarding law enforcement are the fight against poaching and environment degradation and the control of hunting licenses, although their powers are far more limited than those of the rural guards and of the officers of the French Office for Biodiversity, the National Forests Office, the municipal polices and the Coastal Protection Agency. Some of them are affiliated with the National Federation of Private Guards, but this is not mandatory. There are more than 50,000 private guards in France;
• The military personnel of the Armed Forces in Guiana, mainly the military of the Army, are participating in law enforcement tasks, such as the protection of the Guiana Space Centre and the fight against illegal gold mining. There are roughly 2,000 military in these forces;
• The Territorial Guard of Wallis and Futuna is the local equivalent of a non-armed municipal police force, under the command of the prefect. Its strength is roughly 20 territorial guards.