Policemen in France

[Patf]

Are there two kinds of police in France? ie one lot more like the military and the other local Mr Plods. Could someone explain?Also are there separate traffic police? Are there some like the British CID? I'd be interested to hear from people who have had dealings with any of them. Pat.

[Mpprh]

Hi

I think there are 3 varieties :

Police Municipale responsible to Mr le Maire and limited to parking, traffic, petty offences etc

Police Nationale (gendarmes) responsible to Mr le Prefect (ultimately the President ?) carry out normal police duties including CID

CRS are the heavily armed riot squad

Peter

http://tlp.netfirms.com

[Pucette<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Pucette<FONT><P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">"Qui ne connaît pas la campagne lhiver, ne connaît pas la campagne et ne connaît pas]

Gendarmes are the closest to Mr. Plod but descendants of the gens d'armes, revolution bully boys.
There is no equivalent to our concept of "policing with consent", nor is there regular thorough investigation common in the uk following death - whether by road accidents or otherwise - except for a ("privileged"?) few. Gendarmes do not receive an equivalent of the training provided by the Met (I assume other UK police forces do, someone may know better).
Round here the local gendarmes patrol the traffic along with everything else.

[Mike_87300]

pulled this up from a web search.

"Police Nationale

There are 123,000 personnel in the Police Nationale which provides a centrally controlled police service for Paris and all provincial towns with a population greater than 10,000. It is responsible to the Minister of the Interior and Decentralisation.

The Directorate General is in overall charge and within it there are specialist sections and 9 Divisions for active policing dealing with, for example, the suppression of public disorder (CRS), road and motorway patrols, VIP security; general intelligence and gambling; criminal investigation; urban policing anti-terrorism; air and frontier police; and international technical co-operation. The CRS consists of a mobile, highly-trained and well-equipped paramilitary riot police. The 15,750 officers are divided into 63 companies and their main duty is the suppression of public disorder, although they also assist the Frontier Police on occasions and undertake highway patrols.

Gendarmerie Nationale

The Gendarmerie Nationale, on the other hand, is a military force of 96,000 officers under the control of the Ministry of Defence. It operates throughout France, in the rural towns and towns with less than 10,000 population, and also has some responsibilities at frontiers. Being a military force, its officers are not allowed to operate in plain clothes or to undertake undercover work.The Gendarmerie Departmentale is divided into territorial brigades and, theoretically, there is one brigade per canton,. Each of the territorial units has a particular task. There are, for instance, traffic patrols, mountain units, and the airborne section.

The Gendarmerie Mobile do not undertake judicial work but are able to move to reinforce other police or to undertake special duties. Their principal duty is to maintain order. There are over 20,000 officers and they are well trained and equipped for riot control, as well as for diplomatic protection, disaster rescues and control of strikes and crowds.

Police Municipal

This force is independent of the Police Nationale and the Gendarmerie. It is under the control of the Minister of the Interior and its estimated numbers range from 9,000 to 25,000. They are responsible for daily urban policing covering all criminal and public order matters. Approximately one half of the officers are sworn agents and carry arms but many of them are municipal agents"

I've actually had the municipal police around to tell me to tidy up my garden, half an hour after I'd returned from Mr Bricolage with a new sickle!

regards Mike