French National Police

Police Nationale
Police Nationale area
Coverage
Area	France (Metropolitan and Overseas Territories)
Size	551,695 km²
Population	Approx 60 million
Operations
Formed	1966
HQ	Paris
Budget	{{{budget}}}
Officers	150,000
Directorates	11
Stations
Directeur Général	Michel Gaudin
Website	Police Nationale

Typical police van in the streets of Paris.

French National Police car

CRS in riot control gear, with helmets ready

A policeman armed with a submachine gun guarding a police station in Paris

The National Police (Police Nationale), formerly the Sûreté Nationale, is one of two national police forces and the main civil law enforcement agency of France, with primary jurisdiction in cities and large towns. The other main agency is the military Gendarmerie, with primary jurisdiction in smaller towns and rural and border areas. The National Police comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior and has about 150,000 employees. The National Police operate mostly in large cities and towns. In that context:

• it conducts security operations (patrols, traffic control, identity checks...)
• under the orders and supervision of the Investigating magistrates of the judiciary, it conducts criminal enquiries, serves search warrants, etc.; it maintains specific services ("judicial police") for criminal enquiries.

Organization

The police is divided into directorates, headed by the DGPN (Direction Générale de la Police nationale, General Direction of the National Police) [1]:

• Direction de l'administration de la police nationale (Directorate of Administration of the National Police; DAPN)
• Direction de la formation de police nationale (Directorate of Training of the National Police; DFPN)
• Direction centrale de la police judiciaire (Central Directorate of Judicial Police; DCPJ) – major criminal investigations (known as "36 Quai des Orfèvres" in Paris) (It is actually located at 11 rue des Saussaies.)
• Direction centrale de la sécurité publique (Central Directorate of Public Security; DCSP) - uniformed patrol and response
• Direction de la surveillance du territoire (Directorate of Territorial Surveillance; DST) - counter-intelligence
• Direction centrale de la police aux frontières (Central Directorate of Border Police; DCPAF)
• Direction centrale des renseignements généraux (Central Directorate of General Information; DCRG) - records and research
• Inspection générale de la police nationale (Inspectorate General of the National Police; IPGN) - headed by the Inspector General and responsible for internal affairs
• Direction centrale des compagnies républicaines de sécurité (Central Directorate of the Republican Security Companies; DCCRS) - riot policeCommonly called the CRS.
• Service de coopération technique internationale de police (Technical International Police Co-operation Service; SCTIP)
• Service de protection des hautes personnalités (Important Persons Protection Service; SPHP) - VIP protection, although the President of the French Republic is protected by the French Gendarmerie & the French Police (half/half) joined in a service called GSPR (Groupe de Sécurité de la Présidence de la République)
• The Préfecture de Police (Prefecture of Police) provides police and security services in the Paris area.

Ranks

The National Police is divided into three corps, in the terminology of the French Civil Service, in decending order of seniority:

• The Corps de maîtrise et d'application (Authority and Enforcement Corps) corresponds approximately to the enlisted and non-commissioned ranks in a military force, or to constables and sergeants in a British-style civil police force.
  • Gardien de la paix stagiaire ("guardian of the peace, intern") 1st year after school.
  • Gardien de la paix ("guardian of the peace")
  • Sous-brigadier, after 12 years of service.
  • Brigadier
  • Brigadier-chef
  • Brigadier-major
• The Corps de commande et d'encadrement (Command and Management Corps) corresponds approximately to the lower commissioned ranks of a military force, or to grades of inspector in a British-style civil police force. These ranks were previously known as inspecteurs if detectives or officiers de la paix if uniformed, although CRS officers always used the current ranks.
  • Lieutenant student
  • Lieutenant intern
  • Lieutenant (formerly Officier de la paix or Inspecteur)
  • Capitaine (formerly Officer de la paix principal or Inspecteur principal)
  • Commandant (formerly Commandant or Inspecteur divisionnaire)
• The Corps de conception et de direction (Conception and Direction Corps) corresponds approximately to the higher commissioned ranks of a military force, or to grades of superintendent and chief officers in a British-style civil police force.

Shoulder Insigna, from left to right : Police Commissioner, Divisional Commissioner, Controller General, Inspector General, Director of the Active Services

• • Commissaire de police (Police Commissioner)
  • Commissaire principal (Principal Commissioner) - abolished in 2006
  • Commissaire divisionnaire (Divisional Commissioner)
  • Contrôleur général (Controller General)
  • Inspecteur général (Inspector General)
  • Directeur des services actifs (Director of the Active Services)

All the ranks insignia may be worn either on the shoulders or on the chest. In the latter they are squared-shaped instead of being rectangular. Prior to 1995 two civilian corps ("Inspecteurs" and "Enquêteurs") existed in which plain-clothes officers were given the training and authority to conduct investigations. The closest western equivalent is the private eye. The powers of making a full arrest, hearing suspects, overseeing searches ordered by the judiciary, etc., are restricted to members of the police or the gendarmerie with the qualification of "officer of judiciary police" (officier de police judiciaire or OPJ). Other officers are only "agents of judiciary police" (agents de police judiciaire or APJ) and have only limited authority, restricted to assisting the officers. See Police in France.

Equipment

Police Véhicles.

Autos

Generally, in the provinces, a police station has six vehicles (four cars and two vans), eight motorcycles and two cars CRS (a van and an unmarked car ). Most police vehicles are French brands such as Renault and Citroen but other French brands are also seen.

Aircraft inventory

The Police operate 45 helicopters.

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Versions	In service[1]	Notes
Aérospatiale Alouette III	France	utility helicopter	SE 3160 SA 316 SA 319B	3 1 8
Eurocopter EC 145	European Union	utility helicopter		1
Eurocopter Ecureuil	France	utility helicopter	AS 350B AS 350BA AS 350B-1	22 5 4
Eurocopter Fennec	France	utility helicopter	AS 550U-2	1

References