Prefecture of Police

“ The administration of the Préfecture de Police is divided into three Bureaux, the first of which is closely connected with the cabinet of the Préfet, and the two others constitute the first and the second divisions. The first Bureau is divided into four sections, and the second into two, each of these subdivisions having its special department. The Commissaires de Police are municipal officers appointed in Paris by a decree of the President of the Republic on the nomination of the Minister of the Interior, in the proportion of one for every ten thousand inhabitants. ”

“ Then you must beg the Countess to secure her husband’s support, for he is a Minister of State, to carry you to the Prefecture of Police.
“When you have got there, face to face with the Prefet, make your complaint, but as a man of political consequence, who will sooner or later be one of the motor powers of the huge machine of government. You will speak of the police as a statesman should, admiring everything, the Prefet included. The very best machines make oil-stains or splutter. Do not be angry till the right moment. ”

“ The Municipal Police counts an effective of about 8,000 men, commanded by 38 peace officers, 25 chief inspectors, 100 brigadiers, and 700 sub-brigadiers. The entire expenditure of the Prefecture of the Police Service amounts to twenty-five million francs a year, of which eleven millions are put down for pay and the remainder for uniforms, office expenses, and all kinds of extras.
“If,” says a French writer who knows London as well as Paris, “our police is not always so clear-sighted and so clever as it might be, it is, at any rate, more tolerant than vexatious. ”

“ The uniformed police are not all employed in the streets and arrondissements. There is a large reserve composed of the six central brigades, as they are called, a very smart body of old soldiers, well drilled, well dressed, and fully equipped: armed, moreover, with rifles, with which they mount guard when employed as sentries at the doors or entrance of the Prefecture. ”

“ It must be remembered that at that epoch the police was not precisely at its ease; the free press embarrassed it; several arbitrary arrests denounced by the newspapers, had echoed even as far as the Chambers, and had rendered the Prefecture timid. Interference with individual liberty was a grave matter. The police agents were afraid of making a mistake; the prefect laid the blame on them; a mistake meant dismissal. ”

“ The Metropolitan police force numbers 238 men, of whom 6 are detectives. The board represents the inadequacy of the force to the needs of the service, and strongly recommends that an increase be authorized of 12 sergeants and 50 privates, or patrolmen. The members of the force have faithfully and vigilantly discharged the duties required of them in maintaining good order, and protecting the rights of persons and property within the District. ”

“ They are charged with the duty of enforcing the laws and the regulations of the municipal police, the pursuit and arrest of criminals, and they have authority in all controversies and litigations brought before the Tribunals Civils, or those which never appear in court. The immediate chief of the police, or gardiens de la paix, of each arrondissement, is the Officier de Paix, who has his headquarters in the Mairie of that arrondissement, and who is the functionary to appeal to in all matters connected with the public highways. ”

“ The Inspector-General of Police shall make provision for a balanced structuring of the police force and shall have the power to make suitable appointments to the police force, to cause charges of indiscipline among members of the police force to be investigated and prosecuted and to ensure the efficient administration of the police force. ”

“ In a municipal force an officer can only be required to know thoroughly the situation on his particular beat; if he can inform himself about other districts as well, he is so much more valuable to the department, but he is not expected to do much more than get acquainted with the people under his immediate surveillance. In a railroad police [Pg 8] force it is different, and it is required of the officer that he study carefully the criminal situation in all the towns and villages on the division on which he is stationed. ”

“ Street car lines traverse the thoroughfares in all directions, and transport over two million passengers annually. Two district messenger companies are generously patronized. The regular police force consists of some forty-five patrolmen and detectives, aside from the Chief and his assistants; and a distinct organization is the Merchant’s Police, numbering twenty men. ”

“ Power to appoint persons to hold or act in an office in the Police Service established under the Police Service Act, 1965, including appointments on promotion and transfer and the confirmation of appointments, and to remove and exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in such offices and to enforce standards of conduct on such officers shall vest in the Police Service Commission. ”

“ Al concerned officers shall be bound to carry out the recommendations given by the authority in respect of matters of initiation of department level inquiry, registration of criminal case etc against a police officer. ”

“ The police inspectorate operates as an independent body under the Internal Affairs Ministry and has a mandate to promote police efficiency and effectiveness, hold police accountable for their actions, and investigate alleged legal violations. ”

“ The House of Commons in 1839 frankly acknowledged that the City was justified in its pretensions, and that it was certain to maintain a good and efficient police force. That anticipation has been fully borne out, and the City Police is admitted on all hands to be a first-class force, well organised and most effective, filled with fine men who reach a high standard both of intelligence and of physique. ”

“ In 1792, the total effective of this force was two hundred and sixty-three men, officers included, with forty-four force-pumps, twelve suction-pumps, and forty-two casks. The men were provided with uniforms and, later, armed with sabres; in the year IX of the Republic, the corps, then four hundred strong, was placed under the direction of the Préfet de police, under the general administration of the Préfet de la Seine. ”

“ In my own district, which is nearly 200 square miles in extent, and contains about two hundred villages with nearly a hundred thousand inhabitants, there are eight police constables permanently stationed at headquarters, ready to be sent out to discharge any duties that may be necessary, but apart from them there is not a policeman in the district. ”

“ Since enforcements cannot be counted on, it is the special task of the inspectors and state police administrative offices to urge the other administrative offices, charged with the commitment of the manpower, to take over the affairs of the Security Police within the sphere of their jurisdiction. ”

“ The civil officer is a magistrate, and has to try such cases as are within his jurisdiction, to collect the revenue through his native subordinates, to keep his eye on everything in general, and to keep the Deputy Commissioner of the district informed of all that is going on, to initiate whatever is needful for the well-being of the community, and to act the part of a father to the people of his township, which is as large, though not so populous, as an English county. The police inspector is responsible for the maintenance of order, and the pursuit and arrest of criminals ”

“ The District Police Chief or the State Police Chief or the Station House Officer may, on the basis of information available, take a decision to deploy free of cost, additional police force in any public place or private place for preventing the commission of any imminent offence or for preventing any imminent danger against the public or any individual or the Government or any institution. ”

“ Like their comrades beyond the boundary, the City police are largely employed by private individuals; banks, exchanges, public offices, and so forth, gladly put themselves under official protection. It should have been mentioned, when dealing with the Metropolitan Police, that some 1,800 officers of all{257} ranks, from superintendents to private constables, are regularly engaged in a variety of posts outside ordinary police duty. Every great department of State is guarded by them ”

“ Such persons are commonly called 'supervisees,' and they [358] come under the same conditions as license-holders. These conditions have since been modified by Acts of Parliament passed in 1869 and 1891, and they may now be summarized as follows. Both ticket-of-leave men and supervisees are required to report themselves within forty-eight hours after their arrival in any police district to the Chief-Officer of Police in that district, to report themselves once a month afterwards, [243] and to notify any change of address to the same authority ”

“ Most of the police work is done, and by far the greatest part of the organization is situated, in the many local police offices. These are located any place in which there are sufficient numbers of people or enough valuable property to justify them—in towns, communes, enterprises, or cities, where there may be several. The ministry may also establish other individual police jurisdictions at railroad stations, ports, airfields, and large construction sites and in other special situations on a temporary or permanent basis. ”

“ When in any division, offences are frequently committed, there must be reason to expect that the police in that division is not properly conducted.
The absence of crime will be considered the best proof of the complete efficiency of the police. In divisions where this security and good order have been effected, the officers and men belonging to it may feel assured that such good conduct will be noticed by rewards and promotions. ”

“ On the 21st of March, 1887, I wrote to Lord Dufferin regarding the relations of the district and police officers as follows: "The relations between Deputy Commissioners, District Superintendents (Civil Police) and Commandants (Military Police) are ill-defined and work badly, unless all are really good fellows. I have decided to keep the Commandant to his military work, and the District Superintendent of Police to the real civil police duty—intelligence, detection, and investigation. The Deputy Commissioner has by law supreme control and must exercise it.... ”

“ Provincial Commissioners
219. (1) Subject to sections 214 and 218 and the directions of the relevant member of the Executive Council referred to in section 217 (1) , a Provincial Commissioner shall be responsible for—
(a)
the investigation and prevention of crime; (b)
the development of community-policing services; (c)
the maintenance of public order; (d)
the provision in general of all other visible policing services, including—
(i)
the establishment and maintenance of police stations; (ii)
crime reaction units; and (iii)
patrolling services ”

“ Every Auxiliary Police Force shall be organised in ranks similar to those of the Police Force, and shall be subject to the authority of the Commissioner for the maintenance of law and order, the preservation of public peace and the detection of crimes within the limits of Singapore. ”

“ In other words, any crime was regarded as conventional, just so the man who committed it got the "mazuma." The principal city offices were held by gamblers and "sure-thing" men. The city councilmen were nearly all saloon or dive keepers, while the police department was recognized as the grandest collection of thugs, crooks and "strong-armers" that had ever been assembled together within the borders of one town. ”

“ The Governor may, by notification in the Gazette, impose upon any village representative, deputy village representative or assistant village representative the duties of a police officer and may invest any such person with the powers conferred by law upon a police officer not above the rank of sergeant. Every such person so invested will take the same oath or make the same declaration as a police officer. ”

“ We thank the City officials and the rank-and-file officers who have cooperated with this investigation and provided us with insights into the operation of the police department, including the municipal court. Notwithstanding our findings about Ferguson's approach to law enforcement and the policing culture it creates, we found many Ferguson police officers and other City employees to be dedicated public servants striving each day to perform their duties lawfully and with respect for all members of the Ferguson community. The importance of their often-selfless work cannot be overstated. ”

“ Train officers on mechanics of community policing and their role in implementing it; Measure and evaluate individual, supervisory, and agency police performance on community engagement, problem-oriented-policing projects, and crime prevention, rather than on arrest and citation productivity. 2. Focus Stop, Search, Ticketing and Arrest Practices on Community Protection FPD must fundamentally change the way it conducts stops and searches, issues citations and summonses, and makes arrests. FPD officers must be trained and required to abide by the law. ”

“ The Commissioners further report that, "It is the deliberate opinion of a very valuable correspondent, that our constabulary system has greatly promoted the increase of crime; that no useful improvement can be introduced into the present miserable system of attempting to exercise police through parish constables annually elected. ”

“ This officer was responsible to the magistrate only, just as the magistrate was directly responsible to the supreme Government. But after 1859 the police throughout the province of Bengal, and eventually throughout India, was constituted into a special department; the regular force became a species of Government constabulary, under the central authority of an Inspector-General seated at Calcutta, with Deputy-Inspectors and Superintendents in charge of divisions and districts respectively. ”