The municipal police () are the

local police Municipal police, city police, or local police are Law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies that are under the control of local government. This includes the Municipality, municipal government, where it is the smallest Administ ...

of towns and cities in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. There are 24,000 municipal police officers in 4,555 communities. The municipal police are one of the three components of French policing, alongside the National Police and the

National Gendarmerie The National Gendarmerie ( ) is one of two national law enforcement forces of France, along with the National Police (France), National Police. The Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces placed under the jurisdiction of the Minister ...

, with about 145,000 police and 98,000 soldiers respectively. Policing in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

is the responsibility of the

Paris Police Prefecture The Paris Police Prefecture ( ), officially the Police Prefecture (), is the unit of the French Minister of the Interior (France), Ministry of the Interior that provides police, emergency services, and various administrative services to the po ...

, part of the National Police. However, Paris now has a municipal police which is replacing the ' (DPSP) (Prevention, Security and Protection Directorate) which is composed of agents with some municipal police powers titled ''inspecteurs de sécurité'' (Security Inspectors). The police powers of the Paris mayor however remain more limited than the powers of regular French mayor.

Law enforcement roles

Under Article 21 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the duties of the municipal police include: * security, safety and public order * the correct application of the bylaws. * monitoring and regulation of road traffic and the recording of traffic violations.L116-2 of the code of the road traffic * routine screening for alcohol offenses. * maintenance of law 78-6 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. * assistance to citizens of the town. * the laws of urban planning. * reporting of crimes over which they have no jurisdiction. The municipal police may carry out arrests as part of the act and are required to deliver any perpetrator to an officer of the national police or the national gendarmerie.

Numbers

Approximately 24,000 municipal police officers provide about 13% of the total French law enforcement community.Virginie Malochet,
Les polices municipales : points de repères
", ''Note rapide'', Institut d'aménagement et d'urbanisme, n° 515, septembre 2010 The municipal police may also incorporate the duties of the forest rangers and game wardens ( gardes champêtres) in rural areas.

Legal authority and legislation

The French municipal police are under the direct authority of the mayor, who is charged with significant powers of police administration, according to the regulations in Article L. 2212-2 du Code général des collectivités territoriales (CGCT) (2212-2 of the General Code of Territorial (CGCT)) with a responsibility to ensure good order, safety, security, and public health, and also to provide an administrative function, known as the "police power of the mayor. " Although the word "police" refers to the maintenance of order, the function mainly comprises the protection of citizens from disasters, and the task of regulating traffic and parking. To do so, municipalities are required to establish municipal police services, under the authority of the mayor for the task of enforcing local bylaws. To implement the mayor's responsibility, municipalities can create appropriate services and hire two types of agents: the municipal police, the functions and status are discussed in this article, and

Garde champêtre A () is the combination of a forest ranger, game warden and Code Enforcement, code enforcement officer in certain rural communes in France. Organization Their job is to report to the local mayor. Many of these officers carry firearms (they co ...

whose employment is often created in rural areas. The general code regulating local authorities lays down the status of municipal police officers:

Activities

Interventions of the municipal police are also carried out in coordination with other police forces; a mandatory agreement defines and limits the nature and location of their interventions and the manner in which they collaborate with other police forces. With the exception of the static guarding of buildings and surveillance of ceremonies, festivals and other events, without this agreement, the tasks of local police can only be exercised between 6 am and 23 pm. Overall supervision and regulation of the municipal police is under the jurisdiction the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

, which is empowered to carry out inspections by agencies such as the IGPN. Articles L 2212-5 (paragraph 4) and the L CGCT 2212–9, provide for inter-municipal police collaboration between municipalities or groups of municipalities. The police officers recruited through the municipal council are considered primarily available to every mayor in his hometown for local policing. They may also be required to be sworn in by the district judge to provide services to the national police of neighbouring districts or to the gendarmerie in rural areas. The municipal police do not generally carry firearms. At the request of the mayor, the prefect of the department in which the commune or municipality is located may authorise municipal police officers to be armed in certain circumstances or for special night work. In some cities, all municipal police officers are permanently armed.

Weapons

Whereas some French Municipal officers are equipped with firearms, many are equipped only with

pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, mace, or capsicum spray is a Tear gas, lachrymator (tear gas) product containing as its active ingredient the chemical compound capsaicin, which irritates the eyes with burning ...

, batons, and

handcuffs Handcuffs are Physical restraint, restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists in proximity to each other. They comprise two parts, linked together by a Link chain, chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each cuff has a rotating arm whi ...

, each municipal police agency may have different weapons, meaning that some municipal police may carry

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

s while others have more modern

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...

s. Since 2000, revolvers are chambered in .38 special, and semi-automatic pistols in .32 ACP. From 2016, semi-automatic pistols in

9mm This is a list of firearm cartridges that have bullets in the to caliber In guns, particularly firearms, but not #As a measurement of length, artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviate ...

are allowed. Some of the sidearms utilized by the various municipal police are listed but not limited to:

Ranks and rank insignia

* Municipal police officers, class C: ** Gardien-brigadier stagiaire ** Gardien-brigadier ** Brigadier (name of Gardien-brigadier after 4 years of service) ** Brigadier-chef principal * Municipal police officers, class B: ** Chef de service ** Chef de service principal de 2e classe ** Chef de service principal de 1e classe * Municipal police officers, class A: ** Directeur de police municipale or Directeur principal de police municipale Source:

References

Sources

2. ↑ Note: Section 21 of the Criminal Procedure Code confers municipal police officers with the status of deputy

judicial police The judicial police, judiciary police, or justice police are (depending on both country and legal system) either a branch, separate police agency or type of duty performed by law enforcement structures in a country. The term judiciary police is mo ...

officers. As such, it empowers them to assist national police officers in the exercise of their duties, to report to their superiors any crimes, or offenses of which they have knowledge, and in accordance with the instructions of their superior officers, to discover and collect all information required for crime prevention and detection. 3. ↑ CGCT, art. L. 2212–6 4. ↑ CGCT, art. L. 2212–8 7. ↑ Art. L 412-49 of the Code of Commons. 8. ↑ Art. L 412-51 of the Code of Commons 10. ↑ Art. 412-53 of the Code of Commons

Bibliography

* Franck Denion, Police municipale : missions et moyens, Editions Territoriales, municipal police missions and means Territoriales Editions, June 2006.

External links

* (fr

Observatoire National des Polices Municipales (National Observatory Font Municipales) * (fr

Police Online Site non-officiel de la Police Municipale (Police Online Unofficial Website of the Municipal Police) {{Law enforcement agencies of France Law enforcement agencies of France Municipal law enforcement agencies