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Gendarmerie Nationale (France)
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- See gendarmerie for similar forces in other countries.
In France, the National Gendarmerie is the national gendarmerie and military police force. It has a strength of 105,389 personnel. Its budget in 2008 is around 7.7 billion euros. The gendarmerie is sometimes unofficially referred to as the maréchaussée (an old name for the service), and the gendarmes as pandores. The symbol of the gendarmerie is a grenade (also worn by the Italian Carabinieri and the Grenadier Guards in Britain.)
missions include:
e administratively a part of the French armed forces, thus under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence, it is operationally attached to the Ministry of the Interior for its operations within France, and criminal investigations are run under the supervision of prosecutors or investigating magistrates (judges).
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Encyclopedia
- See gendarmerie for similar forces in other countries.
In France, the National Gendarmerie is the national gendarmerie and military police force. It has a strength of 105,389 personnel. Its budget in 2008 is around 7.7 billion euros. The gendarmerie is sometimes unofficially referred to as the maréchaussée (an old name for the service), and the gendarmes as pandores. The symbol of the gendarmerie is a grenade (also worn by the Italian Carabinieri and the Grenadier Guards in Britain.)
Missions
Its missions include:
- The policing of the countryside, rivers and coastal areas, and small towns with populations under 10,000 (outside of the jurisdiction of the French National Police). About half the French population is under the direct jurisdiction of the Gendarmerie.
- Criminal investigations under judiciary supervision.
- Crowd control and other security activities.
- The security of airports and military installations, as well as all investigations relating to the military, including in foreign interventions.
- Participations in ceremonies involving foreign heads of states or heads of governments.
- Provision of Military police services to the Military of France.
Chain of command
While administratively a part of the French armed forces, thus under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence, it is operationally attached to the Ministry of the Interior for its operations within France, and criminal investigations are run under the supervision of prosecutors or investigating magistrates (judges). Its members operate in uniform, and occasionally in plainclothes.
History
The Gendarmerie is the descendant of the Marshalcy of the ancien regime, more commonly known by its French title, the maréchaussée.
In the middle ages there were two Grand Officers of the Kingdom of France with policing responsibilities: The Marshal of France and the Constable of France. The military policing responsibilities of the Marshal of France were delegated to the Marshal's Provost, whose force was known as the Marshalcy because its authority ultimately derived from the Marshal. The marshalcy dates back to the Hundred Years War, and some historians trace it back to the early twelfth century.
Another organisation, the Constabulary (French: Connétablie), was under the command of the Constable of France. The constabulary was regularised as a military body in 1337.
Under King Francis I (reigned 1515-1547), the maréchaussée was merged with the Constabulary. The resulting force was also known as the maréchaussée, or formally, the Constabulary and Marshalcy of France (French: connétablie et maréchaussée de France).
In 1720 the maréchaussée was officially attached to the Household of the King (Maison du Roi), alongside the "gendarmerie" of the time, which was not a police force but a royal bodyguard. During the eighteenth century the marshalcy developed in two distinct areas: Increasing numbers of Marshalcy Companies (compagnies de marechaussée), dispersed into small detachments, were were dotted around the French countryside providing law and order, while specialist units provided security for royal and strategic sites such as palaces and the mint (e.g. the garde de la prévôté de l'hôtel du roi and the prévôté des monnaies de Paris).
While its existence ensured the relative safety of French rural districts and roads the maréchaussée was regarded in contemporary England (which had no effective police force of any nature) as a symbol of foreign tyranny. In 1789, on the eve of the French Revolution, the maréchaussée numbered 3,660 men divided into small detachments or brigades (a "brigade" in this context being a squad of ten ot twenty men.)
During the revolutionary period, marshalcy commanders generally placed themselves under the local constitutional authorities. Despite their connection with the king, they were therefore perceived as a force favouring democratic progress.
As a result, the maréchaussée, whose title was associated with the king, was not disbanded but simply renamed gendarmerie nationale (Law of 16 February 1791). Its personnel remained unchanged, and the role was much the same. However from this point the gendarmerie, unlike the marshalcy, was a fully military force. During the revolutionary period, the main force responsible for policing was the National Guard. Although the marshalcy had been the main police force of the ancien regime, the gendarmerie was initially a full-time auxiliary to the National Guard militiamen.
Under Napoleon, the numbers and responsibilities of the gendarmerie, renamed gendarmerie impériale, were significantly expanded.
In 1901 the Ecole des Officiers de la Gendarmerie Nationale was established to train its officers.
Battle honours
5 battles are registered on the flag
- Battle of Hondschoote (1793) - 400 gendarmes of the 32rd Division engaged battle on the left wing of the army. They seized enemy artillery and lost 117 men.
- Villodrigo (1812) - The 1st legion of Gendarmerie on horseback, belonging to the Brigade of Cavalry of the Army of North, clashed with the British cavalry on October 23. Charging with sabres, they penetrated enemy lines, killing 250 and taking 85 prisoners. Colonel Béteille, commanding the brigade, received 12 sabre cuts but survived.
- Taguin (1843) - 30 Gendarmes on horseback were mobilised to take part in the tracking of the tribe of the emir Abd-El-Kader and participated in his capture. On a painting by Vernet which immortalises the scene (Museum of Versailles), the Gendarmes appear alongside the Algerian Governor-General Henri d'Orléans, duc d'Aumale.
- Sebastopol (1855) - 2 infantry battalions of the Regiment of Gendarmerie of the Imperial Guard participated in taking the city. The 1st battalion seized a strategic position which contributed towards the final victory. 153 Gendarmes fell.
- Indo-China (1945/1954) - 3 Legions of infantrymen from the Republican Guard were formed at the end of 1946. Charged with the formation of the Cochinchina Civil Guard, they assumed security roles and patrolled the borders, suffering heavy losses: 654 killed or missing, and 1500 wounded.
Foreign Service
They have also served in;
Legal authority
In 2002, in accordance with commitments made by Jacques Chirac at the time of his campaign for the 2002 presidential election, the Gendarmerie were attached to the Ministry of the Interior for their duties within France. The gendarmes however retained their military status. The brigades were reorganised and were given a broader sphere of activity. New legislation resulted in a new distribution of Gendarmerie and the police force in France.
Organization
The Gendarmerie Nationale is divided into the gendarmerie départementale and the gendarmerie mobile.
Manpower
The National Gendarmerie consisted of 105,389 personnel units by 31 December 2006. Career gendarmes are either commissioned or non-commissioned officers. The lower ranks consist of auxiliary gendarmes on limited-time/term contracts. The 103,481 military personnel of the National Gendarmerie is divided into:
- 5789 officers and 78354 NCOs of gendarmerie;
- 237 officers and 3,824 NCOs of the technical and administrative body;
- 15,277 section volunteers, from voluntary gendarmes (AGIV) and voluntary assistant gendarmes (GAV);
- 1,908 civilian personnel are divided into civil servants, state workers and contracted workers;
- 40,000 reserve personnel. This reserve force had not yet reached the authorised size limit. Only 25,000 men and women were signed up for reserve engagements (E.S.R.).
This personnel mans the following units:
Gendarmerie Départementale :
- 1,055 Community brigades;
- 697 autonomous brigades ;
- 370 Surveillance and Intervention Platoons (PSIG);
- 271 Dog-handling Teams;
- 17 Mountain Platoons;
- 92 Departmental Brigades for Investigations and Judicial Services;
- 383 Research sections and brigades;
- 14 Air Sections;
- 7 River Brigades;
- 26 Coastal brigades;
- 93 departmental squadrons for roadway security;
- 136 Highway Platoons;
- 37 brigades for the prévention of juvenile delinquency;
- 21 Centers for Information and Recruitment.
Gendarmerie Mobile : 123 squadrons
- 6 Special Security Platoons.
Special Formations:
- 5 squadrons and 10 companies of Republican Guard;
- 40 brigades of gendarmerie for air transports and research sections (BGTA);
- 8 Protection Units;
- 19 Air sections and detachments;
- 18 gendarmerie armament units.
Other unités :
- 3 673 personnel overseas posts;
- 74 brigades and postes of the maritime gendarmerie;
- 54 brigades of Air Gendarmerie;
- 23 schools and Instruction Centers.
The Director-general
Général d'Armée Roland Gilles was appointed Director-general of the Gendarmerie by the Council of Ministers. He officially took command on June 30, 2008, and succeeded General Guy Parayre, to whom he had been second-in-command. General Gilles is the second director-general who rose through the ranks. He is the only five-star general serving in the Gendarmerie.
General Gilles was born February 7, 1954 in Albi. He attended the ESM Saint-Cyr, where he graduated first in the class of 1975.
Directorate-General
The headquarters of the force, called the Directorate-General of the National Gendarmerie, had been located since 1969 at rue St Didier in the XVI° district of the Paris Metropolis. As it grew, expansion was necessary, and now includes eleven other sites distributed throughout the capital and the outskirts of the city.
The Directorate-General of the national gendarmerie includes:
- the general staff, divided into offices and services,
- one inspectorate of gendarmerie (IGN), - the inspector-general
- three services including/understanding each subdirectorate,
- The Inspectorate of the National Gendarmerie (I.G.N) - responsible for studies, information and control. In particular for:
- the judicial enquiries into gendarme misconduct.
- the control and the administrative council of the formations of the gendarmerie as well as the economic analysis of the management led by these same formations.
- measurements of prevention and control relating to hygiene, the safety and the working conditions.
- Human Resources Service (S.R.H.) - The general, chief of the service of human resources directs the management of the whole of the personnel of the gendarmerie, as well as the policy of recruitment and training of this personnel.
- Plans and Means Service (S.P.M.) - The controller general, chief of the service of the plans and means, translated into plans and programs budgetary objectives of the gendarmerie.
- Operations and Employment Service (S.O.E.) - The general, chief of the service of the operations and employment, has authority on:
- the subdirectorate of the organization and the evaluation,
- the subdirectorate of the international co-operation,
- the subdirectorate of defense and the law and order,
- the subdirectorate of public safety and the road safety,
- the subdirectorate of the Criminal Investigation Department.
The Directorate-General takes part in the correct operation of the organization. It works:
- for the units of the ground and with their profit (at the regional level, the areas and the legions are the essential interfaces so that the decisions taken in Paris correspond well to the needs felt on the ground) ;
- as a body of decision-making aid political for all that concerns the gendarmerie in police headquarters (budget, employment…).
It employs 2991 active soldiers, 423 civilian volunteers and 363 other personnel (2004 Figures).
The Departmental Gendarmerie
The Departmental Gendarmerie, or Gendarmerie Départementale, also named «La Blanche» (The White), conducts local policing functions throughout the French territory. Its territorial divisions are based on the administrative divisions of France, particularly the departments from which the Departmental Gendarmerie derives its name.
It is divided into regions (headed by a general, one for each defense zone), themselves divided into legions (headed by a colonel, one for each of the 26 administrative region), themselves divided into groupements (one for each of the 100 département, thus the name), themselves divided into compagnies (one for each of the 342 arrondissements).
It maintains gendarmerie stations throughout the rural parts of the territory.
In addition, it has specialised units:
- Research units, who conduct criminal investigations when their difficulty exceeds the abilities of the territorial units;
- Surveillance and intervention units, reinforce gendarmerie forces in high crime areas;
- Units for prevention of juvenile delinquency;
- Highway patrols
- Mountain units, specialised in search and rescue operations, surveillance and inquiries in mountainous areas.
In addition, the Gendarmerie has an institute (Institut de Recherche Criminelle de la Gendarmerie Nationale) specializing in the investigation of crimes by scientific and technological means.
Note that the research units may be called into action by the judiciary even within cities. As an example, the Paris research section of the Gendarmerie was in charge of the investigations into the vote-rigging allegations in the 5th district of Paris (see corruption scandals in the Paris region).
Gendarmes normally operate in uniform. They may operate in plainclothes only for specific missions and with their supervisors' authorisation.
The Mobile Gendarmerie
The Mobile Gendarmerie, or Gendarmerie Mobile, also named « La Jaune » (The Yellow), is divided into legions, similarly to the Departmental Gendarmerie.
Its main responsibilities are
- crowd and riot control
- security of public buildings
- all policing tasks that require large amounts of personnel (Vigipirate counter-terrorism patrols, searches in the countryside...).
Such units may intervene abroad in varied cases such as a hostage crisis or the support of peacekeeping operations.
The tasks of the gendarmes mobiles tasks are similar to those of the police units known as Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité (CRS), for which they are often mistaken. Easy ways to distinguish them include:
- the uniform of the CRS is blue, the gendarmes mobiles are clad in black;
- the CRS wear a big red CRS patch; the gendarmes have stylised grenades.
Specialised units
It has the following specialised units:
- the security and intervention group of the Gendarmerie Nationale (GSIGN), consisting of:
- the intervention group of the Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN), an elite counter-terrorism and hostage rescue unit,
- the parachutist squadron of the Gendarmerie Nationale (EPIGN),
- a detachment to the security group of the President of the French Republic, whose responsibility is to ensure the safety of the President and of his family and guests.
- Armoured units:
- 17 mobile squadrons equipped with tactical trucks and VAB armored personnel carriers, throughout the French territory;
- the armored group at Versailles-Satory, consisting of three squadrons of VAB wheeled armoured personnel carriers and one squadron of ERC 90 Sagaie, heavy armoured cars with 90 mm cannons.
- Republican Guard - a ceremonial unit based in Paris, whose main mission is to guard official buildings and perform honorary services. They also protect the French president.
Special divisions
Maritime Gendarmerie
Placed under the dual supervision of the Gendarmerie and the Navy, its missions include:
- police and security in the naval bases;
- maritime surveillance;
- police at sea;
- assistance and rescue at sea.
Air Transport Gendarmerie
The Air Transport Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie des Transports Aériens) is placed under the dual supervision of the Gendarmerie and the direction of civilian aviation of the transportation ministry, its missions include:
- police and security in civilian airfields and airports;
- filtering access to aircraft, counter-terrorism and counter-narcotic activities, freight surveillance;
- surveillance of technical installations of the airports (control tower...);
- traffic control on the roads within the airports;
- protection of important visitors stopping for a layover;
- judiciary inquiries pertaining to accidents of civilian aircraft.
Air Gendarmerie
The Air Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie de l'Air) is placed under the dual supervision of the Gendarmerie and the Air Force, it fulfills police and security missions in the air bases, and goes on the site of accident of military aircraft.
Ordnance Gendarmerie
The Ordnance Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie de l'Armement) fulfills police and security missions in the establishments of the Délégation Générale pour l'Armement (France's defence procurement agency).
Overseas Gendarmeries
The non-metropolitan branches include units serving in the French overseas départements and territories, staff at the disposal of independent States for technical co-operation, provost detachments in French bases located in some independent States, Germany, security guards in French embassies and consulates abroad.
Prospective Centre
The Gendarmerie Nationale's Prospective Centre (CPGN), which was created in 1998 by an ordinance of the Minister for Defense, is one of the gendarmerie's answers to officials' willingness to the modernize the State. Directly placed under the authority of the general director of the gendarmerie, it is located in Penthièvre barracks on avenue Delcassé in Paris and managed by Mr Frédéric LENICA, (assisted by a general secretary, Colonel LAPPRAND) "maître des requêtes" in the Conseil d'Etat.
Some notes
- In 2005, the Gendarmerie announced that is was switching its 70,000 personal computers from Microsoft Office (or Microsoft Word) to the OpenOffice.org suite. In 2006, they began switching web browsers from Internet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox and email clients to Mozilla Thunderbird. According to General Brachet, GN Chief of Communications and Computing Systems, the goal is to move all applications to fully standardised protocols and formats, so that they are platform-neutral.
See also
External links
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