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Policeman - as a job


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Looking on the education forum, someone had made a comment about policing as a job possibility.  I was wondering, those of you who live in France - how do the French people around you look on policing as a job.  25 years ago, we were visiting French friends and we went with them to visit a friend of theirs who was in the police and no one passed any derogatory comments about that.  However, another of my French friends, well she herself is German but married into a French family and living in France, well she was appalled when her son decided to join the police.  It was as though she was ashamed of it.  Now, his younger brother is talking of joining the police having been studying for a business/accounts orientated bac.  She doesn't seem happy about it.  In England, I think people have always looked on policing as a respectable job, but it just doesn't seem that way for my friend's family.  So, have you found this to be the case too?
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Hello

It is a career that my son is also considering , he is the only one in his year at college considering it . We do live in a rural area which may have some effect on this where careers for the boys seem to link to agriculture. The girls seem to be looking more at hairdressing or childcare . He has found generally amongst his peer group  both male and female that they do not like Gendarmes and therefore would not want to be one. Perhaps this comes from the parents influence or just the importance of being  popular among my sons age group . But in spite of their dislike for the Gendarmes they still have a respect for them and would not cross them .

However, from the information we have already received it still seems to be very popular and therefore competitive to gain placement  with a 1 in 10 success rate . This was the statistic quoted in the gendarme recruitment information which I find interesting given their lack of popularity amongst my sons age group . However , the earliest age of recruitment is 18 so by then ones assumes  perhaps that popularity has a little less importance. Either that or the statisitical information is a little distorted ?

 The Army recruitment officer at a college careers day said that the Gendarmes offered better pay, career advancement opportunities and an overall better package than that offered by the Army which I found quite amusing -  perhaps he's in the wrong job.

 

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hi there, just a query is your son british or french as my son would love to be in the french police but was told( I don't know who by )that as he was a brit he would not be allowed to be a policeman and I said as he was educated from the age of  7 its unlikely he would get in the Uk police force so this has really upset him  so can anyone confirm if this is true

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My son has been in the police nationale for nearly 20 years and at the moment is a recruting officer in Bordeaux. I just rang him but he was busy and will ring me back later; he just had time to say that you need at least the Bac and usually French nationality but he'll explain that later!
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"I said as he was educated from the age of  7 its unlikely he would get in the Uk police force"

That made me laugh, lizzy h ! I hope it was a typing slip rather than your real view on the educational prowess of the British policeforce!

Seriously though, if he has a british passport and wants to apply for the job in the UK I really don't think a french education will hold him back, as long as he is reasonably competent at reading and writing in english. If he has the french equivalent of O'level qualifications then that should suffice. I don't know the figures but I believe that the pay in the UK (for the Metropolitan police at any rate) is significantly higher than in France.

Bear in mind though that he may find that it's just not for him once he has started, and to move countries and find that out is harder than finding it out nearer to home and in a familiar environment. If he has lived here since the age of 7 he should be able to apply to be a French national.

Good luck,

Jane

 

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For information about joining the Police Nationale you can telephone :

Service de recrutement de la DRRF.....0557811460, normal office hours (9 to 5!) and you will have all your questions answered and get sent to a different office if necessary. Mind you, Bordeaux goes up to Poitiers and down to Rodez.

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Yes jane it was a typing slip I meant to say educated here since 7  hes now in 4eme  and doing extremely well but I was under the impression his Bac etc wouldn't count for anything, anyway he says he has no intention of going back to the Uk (but you never know!!!)

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Hello

From the info we were given and the further enquiries I made you need to be a french national to apply and have completed the one day of national service training - normally around the age of 16 ( plus hold the certificate that is apparently given as proof of completion.) 

Hope that is of some help.

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I made the original comment on the education forum about my son possibly wanting to join the French army or gendarmerie. When we went to the army recruitment center at Perigueux about my son enlisting in the French army we were told that he had to be at least seventeen and a half and be a French national - dual nationality would not do. I wonder if it is the same with the Gendarmerie or whether dual nationality is acceptable. Does anybody know?

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[quote user="Gemini_man"]I made the original comment on the education forum about my son possibly wanting to join the French army or gendarmerie. When we went to the army recruitment center at Perigueux about my son enlisting in the French army we were told that he had to be at least seventeen and a half and be a French national - dual nationality would not do. I wonder if it is the same with the Gendarmerie or whether dual nationality is acceptable. Does anybody know? [/quote]

http://www.armees.com/Devenir-Gendarme-dossier-garde.html

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