National Police (France) - Organization

Organization

The police is commanded by the director-general (directeur général de la police nationale) who is currently Claude Baland. The director-general is directly in charge of the General Directorate of the National Police (French: Direction Générale de la Police nationale) (DGPN).

The police is then sub-divided into directorates:

• Direction des ressources et des compétences de la police nationale (Directorate of Ressources and Competences of the National Police; DRCPN), fusion of the Direction de la formation de police nationale (Directorate of Training of the National Police; DFPN) and Direction de l'administration de la police nationale (Directorate of Administration of the National Police; DAPN)
• Direction centrale de la police judiciaire (Central Directorate of Judicial Police; DCPJ) – major criminal investigations (this mission, in the Paris Area is fulfilled by the Direction Régionale de Police Judiciaire de Paris known as "36 Quai des Orfèvres") (The national headquarters are actually located at 11 rue des Saussaies, in the Interior Ministry.)
  • Sous-direction de l'anti-terrorisme (Anti-Terrorism Sub-Directorate; SDAT) - elite counter-terrorist task-force.
  • The National Financial Investigation which includes all the National Specialized Investigation Offices except the National Itinerant Criminality Struggle Office (managed by the Gendarmerie Nationale
  • The National Sub-directorate of forensics.
• Direction centrale de la sécurité publique (Central Directorate of Public Security; DCSP) - uniformed patrol and response, approximatively 80% of the workforce.
  • Groupes d'Intervention de la Police Nationale (Intervention Groups of the National Police; GIPN) - 9 regional SWAT teams.
• Direction centrale de la police aux frontières (Central Directorate of Border Police; DCPAF), performs identity checks with Douanes Françaises and struggle illegal immigration.
• Inspection générale de la police nationale (General Inspectorate of the National Police; IPGN) - headed by the Inspector General and responsible for internal affairs, in Paris Area, these tasks are assigned to a dedicated service : the Inspection Générale des Services (General Inspectorate of the Services).
• Direction centrale des compagnies républicaines de sécurité (Central Directorate of the Republican Security Companies; DCCRS) - riot police, motorway police and mountain rescue commonly referred to as 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 such as foreign diplomats and also responsible for the protection of the President of the French Republic through the 'Groupe de Sécurité de la Présidence de la République'.
• The UCLAT, Unité de Coordination de la Lutte Antiterroriste, (Counterterrorism Struggle Coordination Unit) and its Recherche Assistance Intervention Dissuasion (Research, Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence; RAID) - unit.

The Préfet de Police, currently Bernard Boucault, under direct orders of the Minister manages the Préfecture de Police de Paris which includes all police and security services in Paris and neighboring departments, those services are not under control of the director-general. The police forces in the other departments of the Île-de-France are under direct command of the Préfet who are under supervision of the Préfet de Police. Nevertheless, those units are under control of the director-general