Law enforcement in France
In France, the police authorities are divided on three tasks: There are two civilian police authorities Police nationale ( National Police ) at the national level, which is under the Ministry of Interior and the municipal police (Police Municipale ), which reports to the mayor. Further, in rural communities often have a guard champêtre ( constable ), which is responsible for the field of protection and environmental protection. Then there are the organized military Gendarmerie nationale, which reports to the Ministry of Defence. The police of the municipalities have limited rights and can monitor only the local law and the observance of traffic rules in the rule. In addition, they support the actually responsible for these areas gendarmerie. Often the officials of the municipal police to carry a weapon.
The gendarmerie is responsible for rural areas and small towns up to a size of about 16,000 inhabitants. For urban areas, the police are responsible.
However, the two authorities gendarmerie and police have on several areas of clearly defined areas of competence:
- Police: Foreign and Border Police
- Gendarmerie: matters affecting the military, police duties at sea, tasks at airports and Republican Guard
Furthermore, the police was until 1984 responsible for rescue and ambulance services (Police secours ). After these areas were transferred to the fire departments. However, the Mountain Rescue is part of the Gendarmerie ( Peloton de gendarmerie de haute montagne ) and also in the dance companies Républicaines de Sécurité settled.
The National Police is divided again in the Police administration ( corresponding approximately to the police, but with limited enforcement rights) and the Judicial Police ( Criminal Investigation Department ).
The dance companies Républicaines de Sécurité (CRS ) is a quartered, which is divided into regional groups and companies special unit of the National Police, the use of territories with which the riot police in Germany are comparable (especially large-scale situations ); for tasks of this type is responsible for the mobile gendarmerie gendarmerie. Both the police and the police maintain special units: If the gendarmerie Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale and the police research assistance intervention dissuasion (RAID), and responsible for hijacking, nuclear power plants, the Channel Tunnel, trains and other vulnerable infrastructure the Groupes d'intervention de la police nationale. The gendarmerie there are also armored and paramilitary units.
The civilian police forces derive their self-image from from the Declaration of Human and Civil Rights of 1789. The French Gendarmerie was created in 1791 immediately after the revolution in the 19th century and was the model for the Gendarmerien many other states.
As part of a general reform of the ranks were also of the "civilian" police forces in France " militarized " at the end of the twentieth century, which at inter- governmental cooperation to recognize who is to be transferred or to whom subordinate, relieved.