Casualties from French protests

Approximately 12,000 arrests, 1,000 police officers and gendarmes injured, hundreds of high school students injured, with reports of hands and jaws torn off by grenades, eyes blinded by shots to the head, and two protesters dead. This is the preliminary toll of a month of mobilization in France. Questions are being raised about how a democracy protects the constitutional right to demonstration.

Use of military-grade equipment

Law enforcement is equipped with so-called "intermediate" weapons, classified as "non-lethal" but described as war weapons by sociologist and law enforcement specialist Sébastian Roché. These include LBDs, electric impulse pistols, deafening grenades, tear gas, and encirclement grenades. These weapons are classified as category A2, which is war material.

Concerns over weapon deployment

In theory, these munitions are not lethal as long as they are not fired in a tense manner. However, concerns have been raised about how many flash balls and grenades have been fired directly into the heads of protesters and high school students, risking dismemberment. Encirclement grenades are prohibited in all European countries, and the use of LBD by law enforcement is very restricted or even completely prohibited in most of France's European neighbors.

Training and recruitment issues

The training of police officers has also come under scrutiny. Some recruits obtained 7/20 on the exam before undergoing 12 months of theoretical training. To become a baker, one needs at least 10/20 on the CAP and the training lasts three years. The prerequisite for handling flour is more demanding than for handling war weapons. Successive governments have recruited indiscriminately. Since 2015, after the waves of attacks, recruitment has been done in a hurry, with the duration of training and the requirements for recruitment lowered.

Lack of legal knowledge and preparedness

The result is clear: these police officers do not master the Penal Procedure Code. After minimal training, they are deployed in streets they do not know, among a population they do not know, with dangerous weapons they do not master.

Evolution of police doctrine

The "law and order" doctrine in France has evolved significantly since the 1990s. In the 1990s, after the death of Malik Oussekine under the blows of "voltigeurs," France changed its doctrine to avoid physical contact with protesters at all costs and to apply strict proportionality in the use of force. However, this doctrine has changed significantly. Starting in 2005 and the revolt in the suburbs, new weapons were used by the police, such as the flash ball. Starting in 2016 and the labor law, the police systematically practiced the "nasse" associated with tear gas. Starting in 2019 and the yellow vests movement, there was a return of the "voltigeurs" – now called Brav-M – and the introduction of armored vehicles – the Centaures of the gendarmerie. These new police practices now inspire authoritarian countries: Hong Kong, Bahrain, Tunisia, Myanmar, etc.

French police lethality and international comparisons

According to the Basta review, the French police has become the most lethal in Europe: three deaths every month in France between 2020 and 2022. In the 20th century, the English and German police had a bad reputation. Today they are cited as examples. Law enforcement is very lightly armed. During demonstrations, they are almost invisible, posted in parallel streets, ready to intervene in a targeted and rapid manner, without tear gas or even batons. The objective is summed up in one word: "de-escalation."

Criticism of French policing model

France has moved from a democratic model to an authoritarian model. These practices are regularly denounced by numerous national and international bodies, from the Defender of Rights to the Council of Europe and the UN experts.