New powers to issue fines proposed for France's municipal police

Municipal police officers might soon be able to issue fines for graffiti, driving without a licence, and taking alcohol into sports stadiums under a government-sponsored bill due to be presented in September.

The bill has received backing from the largest body representing French mayors.

Its biggest proposed change is to the status of municipal police officers, who would be able to issue fines for serious offences classified as délits, instead of being limited to fines for more minor contraventions.

As things stand, if a municipal police officer detains someone for a délit, they must hand them over to either the gendarmes or the national police for the fine to be issued.

The Association des Maires de France (AMF) wants municipal officers to be able to fine people for offences including graffiti, driving without a licence or without insurance, and illegally occupying part of a building, especially where it is being used by drug dealers, rather than general squatting.

Other examples include selling on the pavement, shoplifting, obstructing a road, carrying and transporting illegal arms, taking fireworks or alcohol into a sports stadium, invading a sports ground, and aggravated sexist or sexual abuse.

There is no guarantee, however, that the bill will be passed – France has a minority government, and the powers and roles of municipal police forces have long been a political football. 

What is the difference between police and gendarmes?

In France there are three main police services: Gendarmerie, Police nationale and Police municipale.

• La Gendarmerie is a national force that operates from barracks, with missions typically in rural and suburban areas and on motorways. As a military force, officers are often armed and must be ready to intervene at any time.
• Police nationale is the police service in large towns that investigates criminal and administrative offences and manages public order violations. Its officers are public officials. Its role overlaps with that of the Gendarmerie.
• Police municipale is a local police force present in many communes that operates under the guidance of the local authority, typically to maintain public order and enforce local bylaws.

Municipal police, as we know them today, were introduced in the 1980s by a few towns and cities with right-wing mayors.

It was a protest against what were claimed to be lax law-and-order policies of then socialist president François Mitterrand. 

From 560 municipal police officers in 1984, numbers have grown to 28,000 in 4,500 communes where councils have voted for them.

They are under the orders of the mayor. In 56% of communes, they are armed with guns for self-defence.

In others, non-lethal weapons including tasers, batons and flash-balls are carried. 

AMF said the proposed bill was needed because of state disengagement in matters of security over the last dozen years.

It has meant more public safety issues are being dealt with by the municipal police. 

They are notably in charge of video-surveillance in towns and cities, for example.

However, AMF warned that unless more funding followed along with extra powers, the system would fail.

AMF also called for gardes champêtres – officers who work on their own in rural communes combining ordinary policing and environmental protection roles – to be included in the reform, with powers to have illegally parked vehicles towed away.