Gathering of members of the judicial police to protest against the reform of their administration outside the Rennes courthouse, October 17, 2022. DAMIEN MEYER / AFP
Several weeks behind the originally planned schedule, the Administration and National Police Inspections were due to present their conclusions on the Interior Ministry’s Judicial Police (PJ) reform project by the end of January.
Ten test departments, including three overseas territories – Martinique, Guyana and Guadeloupe – have been experimenting for two years for some, a few months for others, with the new organization that will serve as a model for the entire territory, with implementation during 2023 in each one Department. There, a single chief directs the police instead of one responsible person per service (PJ, public security, border police, etc.).
On paper, this reorganization aims to streamline police operations and create a “single channel” in terms of investigative services, which includes the PFY, who is in charge of the most complex crimes, and departmental security, who is responsible for public security are dependent, connects and are responsible for everyday crime. Formerly these two entities only responded to their central directions. Reporting to a single manager, the National Police Department Head (DDPN), they must now work together with the stated aim of reducing the extensive backlog of daily procedures (burglaries, holdups, etc.) that embolize police investigators.
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For several months, this new organization, still in the making, has caused concern and resentment from a large majority of PY officers, who fear having to abandon the complex issues previously covered, from international drug trafficking to money laundering. in favor of processing smaller but outstanding files – more than a million, according to Home Office estimates. Risk, in their opinion: lack of time and expertise to devote to organized crime could well thrive.
This is essentially what they said to the Ministerial Inspectorates, who received substantiated reports from the concerned departments of the audit departments.
Peripheral improvements
According to information from Le Monde, far from the satisfaction given by police officers, the conduct of the experiment testifies to very different fates. And, to sum up the general feeling, “depends a lot on named DDPN and personality, but gives no overall satisfaction,” estimates one provincial PJ service captain.
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