French Police Training
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X7004301011 |
| Date | 01 October 1970 |
| Published date | 01 October 1970 |
| Author | R. Ingleton |
| Subject Matter | Article |
CHIEF
INSP.
R.
INGLETON
Kent Constabulary
Chief Inspector Ingleton is the officer in charge
of
Folkestone
Sub-Division
of
the Kent Constabulary. As a result
of
his being so near
to the coast and the
fact
that he is French-speaking he has been given
certain responsibilities for liaison with the French and Belgian Police.
He has been on several official visits to France, particularly in the
Pas de Calais area and recently made, at the invitation
of
the Directeur
des Ecoles et Techniques in Paris, a short study
tourof
police training
establishments in France.
FRENfJD POLItJE
TRAINING
As 1970 has been declared "International Education Year" by
U.N.E.S.C.O. it seems probable that many organisations, including
the police, will be taking a look at their own educational or in-
structional systems.
With this in mind, a short outline of training in the Police Na-
tionale of France might be of interest to those with a responsibility
for or a penchant towards police training.
Police or
Gendarmerie?
Many readers will know that there are two main law-enforcement
agencies in
France-the
Police Nationale and the Gendarmerie
Nationale. The latter is a military body under the control of the
Minister for the Army and is organised and trained on military
lines. Its main duties (apart from Military Police work) consist of
policing the smaller towns, rural areas and main roads. Certain of
its members are appointed as officers of the judicial police and are
thereby empowered to enquire into and deal with all types of crime
including murder, kidnapping, wounding, etc.
The Police Nationale, however, is a purely civil police force,
comprising the former Surete Nationale and the former Prefecture de
Police in Paris (although each retains a certain amount of its
independent identity) and it is the training of this body with which
this article is concerned.
Rank
Structures
To understand the training methods, it is first necessary to appre-
ciate that there are four different and independent rank structures in
the Police Nationale into each of which recruits may make direct
entry and existing police officersmay transfer on promotion.
At the base we have the Corps
of
Gardiens and Grades which
corresponds to the Constable and Sergeant ranks in this country.
This Corps is entirely a uniformed one and it is from here that the
October 1970 313
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