National Police (France)

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National Police Police nationale
Motto	Pro patria vigilant[1] (They are watching for their country)
Agency overview
Formed	23 April 1941[2][3] (unification of existing units)
Preceding agency	Sûreté nationale (1944–1966)
Employees	145,200 (2015)
Annual budget	€12.64 billion (2021)
Jurisdictional structure
National agency	France
Operations jurisdiction	France
Size	551,695 km2
Population	67.2 million
General nature	Local civilian police
Operational structure
Overseen by	General Directorate of the National Police
Headquarters	Paris, France
Minister responsible	Bruno Retailleau, Minister of the Interior
Agency executive	Frédéric Veaux, Director General
Parent agency	Ministry of the Interior
Child agency	National Guard (partly)
Directorates	List of Directorates Direction de l'administration de la police nationale Direction de la formation de police nationale Direction centrale de la police judiciaire Direction centrale de la sécurité publique Direction centrale de la police aux frontières Inspection générale de la police nationale Direction centrale des compagnies républicaines de sécurité Service de coopération technique internationale de police Service de protection des hautes personnalités Préfecture de police Recherche Assistance Intervention Dissuasion
Facilities
Vehicles	31 263 (2021)
Helicopters	0 (see Sécurité Civile)
Website
www.police-nationale.interieur.gouv.fr (in French)

The National Police (French: Police nationale), formerly known as the Sûreté nationale, is one of two national police forces of France, the other being the National Gendarmerie. The National Police is the country's main civil law enforcement agency, with primary jurisdiction in cities and large towns. By contrast, the National Gendarmerie has primary jurisdiction in smaller towns, as well as in rural and border areas. The National Police comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior and has about 145,200 employees (as of 2015). Young French citizens can fulfill their mandatory service (Service national universel) in the police force.^[4][5]

The national police force was created on 14 August 1941, under the Vichy regime, by a decree signed by the head of government, Philippe Pétain. This decree implements the law of 23 April 1941, creating the Police nationale: the forces of the Sûreté nationale (with the former services of the Sûreté générale, which became the Sûreté nationale in 1934, and the municipal police units, which became "étatisées" for the police forces of towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants) and the police services of the Préfecture de police in Paris are thus united. It was dissolved after the Liberation, by order of the Provisional Government of the French Republic on 16 November 1944. It was revived by Law no. 66-492 of 9 July 1966, on the organization of the police in France. This law unified the Sûreté Nationale and the Préfecture de Police.

The National Police operates mostly in cities and large towns. In that context, it conducts security operations such as patrols, traffic control and identity checks. Under the orders and supervision of investigating magistrates of the judiciary, it conducts criminal inquiries and serves search warrants. It also maintains specific services ('judicial police') for these inquiries.