Everywhere you look in Paris, there are French police. Then you look again
By Jordan Baker
Paris is known for the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, but the sight capturing an unlikely amount of attention at the Olympics is the French police.
The city is crawling with law enforcement. They swarm metro stations, street corners, landmarks. They guard checkpoints around venues and the river. There are 35,000 deployed each day, and 45,000 were on duty for the opening ceremony on Friday.
Police are everywhere in Paris and have been told to be polite to tourists.Credit: Bloomberg
Forty countries, including Morocco and Brazil, sent officers to help. But it’s the French national police and military gendarmes, with their distinctive side caps and sleek uniforms, that have become as much a symbol of these Olympics as croissants and a rancid river.
Tourists have speculated that the fitness standards, particularly of the gendarmerie, must be higher than those of the NSW or Victorian forces. “I can’t stop staring,” said one female visitor, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid upsetting her husband.
Positive attention is a pleasant change for French police and gendarmes (soldiers with power over civilians), given their chequered relations with civilians.
They’re famous for a tendency to be heavy-handed, particularly after an international incident at a Champions League final in Paris two years ago when they tear-gassed Liverpool fans stuck outside the stadium due to a ticketing snafu.
At least 30,000 police and gendarmes are patrolling Paris each day.Credit: Thomas Padilla
Only a few months ago a group of police officers were caught harassing protesters in a recording, reported by newspaper Le Monde, that featured sexual remarks, threats and boasts. One officer reportedly said to a protester: “You know you really have a slappable face?”
With the world’s eyes upon them, the French are anxious to avoid further scandals. President Emmanuel Macron last year put the country on notice that the “image of France” was at stake.
The interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, has written to police and fire officers asking them to be on their best behaviour. “I’m counting on each and every one of you to display France’s finest face: benevolent, friendly, professional,” said the letter, reported in Britain’s The Times.
They have been told that helping lost tourists will be among their duties, and that at least one member of every police unit should be able to speak English.
About 3000 did English language courses at the Clermont-Ferrand police academy.
“The move is said to have come as something of a shock to police, who are better known for their use of tear gas, stun grenades, water cannon and rubber bullets than their devotion to grammar,” The Times wrote.
It’s not the first time French authorities have tried to improve the manners of their officers. In 2013, a new code of conduct ruled that they address people as sir or madam, and use the formal version of the word you, “vous”, rather than the familiar “tu”.
“Police officers are at the service of the general public,” the code read. “Their relationship with the public must be marked by impeccable courtesy.”
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