Municipal police issued new guns

MUNICIPAL police will receive more weapons and better equipment, beginning with new bulletproof vests, President Hollande has announced.

Speaking at a meeting of the mayors of France in Paris, he confirmed his response to the Paris attacks which include stepping up airstrikes in Syria and an additional 7,500 jobs in the police nationale, gendarmerie, justice department and customs.

See also: Hollande demands new state powers

President Hollande said that “all the power of the state be put in the service of the security of our citizens” and that the 3,900 police municipales forces in France would also receive help.

“In the face of the terrorist threat, there is no difference in territories, there are no more partisan divisions to hold,” he said.

The first wave of modernisation will be bulletproof vests for officers. Those authorities who wish could get extra weapons.

The president recalled the death of Clarissa Jean-Philippe, a police officer who was shot dead on the streets of Paris just two weeks into her job, the day after the Charlie Hebdo attack and subsequent murders.

“More police and gendarmes will be deployed in the communes of France, with personnel who are better armed and better equipped,” he said.

Meetings will be held in communes around the country to better inform local authorities on how to tackle terrorism and the threats currently posed to France, the current State of emergency and government plans to change laws to help tackled terrorism.

Photo Jonas Roux