Police Reforms in France: 40 Years of Searching for a Model
Police Reforms in France: 40 Years of Searching for a Model

Summary/Abstract: Police reforms have been a major issue for the past 40 years. Initiatives in order to reform the very centralised French system, in which the police and the gendarmerie have always prioritised state security, have not been successful. In spite of attempts to implement community policing in the 1990s and, to a lesser extent, under the presidency of François Hollande, French police still have a predominantly aggressive style of policing, which relies mostly on arrests and stops and searches. Another problem is the lack of evaluation of safety policies, with institutions which professional culture is reluctant towards academic research and external insight. President Macron announced reforms aiming at addressing those issues, but it is too early at this point to say if they have reached their objective.

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