The town police (Police municipale) usually not armed with lethal weapons as they manage local issues (theft, “ligth” violence like neighbors conflicts, noise complaints, familyconflicts… this kind of stuff… very local ). Some can be armed but it’s quite rare and with restrictions. You have a little group of policemen per town. Mine have 3 guys for around 10k people and last time i saw one, he was asking details about a neighborhood dog who was making lots of noise…
And we have the National Police (Police Nationale), who manages bigger threats like murder, dealers, kidnapping, car accidents with fatalities, etc… usually in medium to big towns. All have lethal weapons with them and you saw them for more serious and dangerous topics. Their perimeter are mainly in the big towns.
For towns outside big populated areas, we have the military equivalent of national police: the Gendarmerie (with their best elements in the gign for very serious threats and interventions). Same mission than Nationale Police, they also do prevention topic (car speed controls, alcohol tests…) but their perimeter is all the territory.
We have 2 types of Police here.
The town police (Police municipale) usually not armed with lethal weapons as they manage local issues (theft, “ligth” violence like neighbors conflicts, noise complaints, familyconflicts… this kind of stuff… very local ). Some can be armed but it’s quite rare and with restrictions. You have a little group of policemen per town. Mine have 3 guys for around 10k people and last time i saw one, he was asking details about a neighborhood dog who was making lots of noise…
And we have the National Police (Police Nationale), who manages bigger threats like murder, dealers, kidnapping, car accidents with fatalities, etc… usually in medium to big towns. All have lethal weapons with them and you saw them for more serious and dangerous topics. Their perimeter are mainly in the big towns.
For towns outside big populated areas, we have the military equivalent of national police: the Gendarmerie (with their best elements in the gign for very serious threats and interventions). Same mission than Nationale Police, they also do prevention topic (car speed controls, alcohol tests…) but their perimeter is all the territory.