FINANCE COMMITTEE,
THE GENERAL ECONOMY
AND BUDGET OVERSIGHT
Paris, 21 February 2022
PRESS RELEASE
On 23 February at 17.30, Emmanuel Glimet, Division President for the Fourth Chamber
of the Court of Accounts, will present to the Finance Committee, the General Economy and
Budget Oversight, chaired by
Éric Woerth
, the report on the inquiry that the Court of Accounts
was asked to conduct in accordance with Article 58 (2) of the Constitutional Bylaw on Budget
Acts, relating to the training of police officers.
The National Police had just over 126,000 active employees in 2020, including 9,200
commissioners and officers, 107,600 patrol officers and 10,300 ancillary police officers. The
initial and on-going training of these people is particularly important because of the
prerogatives associated with internal security missions, which are managed within a strict
regulatory and ethical framework. The system for training the National Police faces a
number of stresses: strong fluctuations in recruitment, the creation of new posts, and an
increase in retirements over the next ten years. These factors will continue to put pressure
on the schools, especially as the duration of the courses for patrol officers and ancillary
police officers will be extended. The training must also equip the institution to face new
threats (such as cybercrime). In the report published today, the Court of Accounts makes
thirteen recommendations that aim to respond to these new needs, divided into three main
areas: the organization of and resources for training; initial training; and continuing
education.
The budgetary and human resources must match the very ambitious objectives set
after the security consultation, the “
Beauvau de la Sécurité
”
Since 2017, the French Central Directorate for the recruitment and training of the
National Police (DCRFPN) has been responsible for directing the initial and on-going training
strategy for the entire police force. Since 2020, it has supervised the Higher National Police
Academy (ENSP), responsible for training police commissioners and officers. Although its
creation has significantly improved the overall coherence of police training, the DCRFPN
remains essentially focused on the initial and ongoing training of patrol officers, and its action
is still influenced by the continuing division of responsibilities with the ENSP and the relative
autonomy of the Police Prefecture in conducting continuing education. In terms of budget, the
allocations awarded to the DCRFPN have been restricted since 2015: expenditure on property
maintenance and educational expenditure on continuing education are in fact variables that
are used to balance the books. The announcements by the President of the Republic in closing
the
Beauvau de la Sécurité
in September 2021 will have a significant impact on training
expenditure from 2023.
The increase in numbers recruited has adversely affected the duration and quality of
the initial training
The quality of the initial training is uneven, varying with the body to which the students
belong. The initial training of patrol officers is the most vulnerable to variations in recruitment.
Until 2021, the training system met the objectives defined for entries, although the duration of
the courses was often changed and the examination pass levels were lowered. The new training
programme introduced in June 2020 was based on classroom training reduced to eight months,
supplemented by 16 months of internship in the first job. The results were disappointing. It was
considered advisable to extend training in the school to 12 months, and this will be effective
from May 2022.
Continuing education struggles to transcend the diversity of specialities and
structures
Continuing education includes a number of different types of training (mandatory,
promotional, statutory, etc.). Although there is a lot of training on offer, there is a gap between
priority training courses that do not always find an audience, such as those on ethics, and
sectors under stress where there is insufficient training. Annual training is also mandatory for
intervention techniques and safety, the core skills of the police officer, but this is far from being
enforced for all officers, mainly because of a lack of trainers. The Court stresses that this
situation carries a major risk of skills erosion and calls for an action plan to be implemented as
soon as possible. The management and implementation of continuing education, which is
almost exclusively carried out by police officers, are also obstacles to innovation. Lastly, joint
training courses for the National Police and the Gendarmerie must be developed, particularly
in the area of law enforcement.
The video of the session during which the report to the Finance Committee is presented
will be available a
t the National Assembly’s website
The report will be available on the Court of Accounts’ site after the session.