In these four countries, competences of the municipal police are explicitly defined, in particular compared to those of the other security forces. This situation thus contrasts today with that of France, where the municipal police developed during the last years apart from any express legal status.

In Germany, where the font falls within the competence of , the laws and regulations of different on the font specify the part which the communal services in charge of the maintenance of law and order can play. Indeed, there does not exist in Germany of “municipal police”, but the local collectivities, and in particular the communes, have dedicated services in the hold of the law and order.

In Spain, where only the cities of more than 5.000 inhabitants can create municipal police, those are controls by the organic law of 1986 on the “forces and security body”. This law determines in particular the statute of the various police force, like their respective competences.

In Italy, there exists since 1986 an outline law on the municipal police which defines its attributions. The reform of this law, currently under investigation, should make it possible to improve the coordination of the various security forces.

In Portugal, the municipal police is currently controls by a law of 1994 on the municipal services of font, which prohibits to them to carry on the activities which fall within competence of the other forces and police services. However, this law not having received a practical implementation, the government plans to file in a project of outline law on the municipal police during this year.

Pursuant to this principle, all the Spanish autonomous communities, except for that of the Canary islands, adopted laws of coordination of the municipal police. This makes it possible to fix mutual keys of selection, remuneration, training and promotion of the municipal police officers of the same autonomous community, like determining average the techniques placed at their disposal.

In Italy, the areas also legislated to standardize the statute and the operation of the municipal police, but the majority of the rules thus adopted were not put into practice.

a) The integration of the Spanish municipal police to the police plan

The Spanish organic law of 1986 distinguishes three categories of “forces and security body”: those of the State, composed of the national police force and the civil guard, those of the autonomous communities and those of the local collectivities. As in addition only the communes can create bodies of font, the third category contains only the municipal police.

Completely integrated into the police plan, the majority of the municipal police are armed. They play however only one secondary part as regards judicial police: in this field, just like the fonts of the autonomous communities, they “collaborate” with the police force of the State, only qualified.

The law of 1986 provides that the municipal police officers carry obligatorily a uniform, whose main features are given nationwide.

b) Broad prerogatives of the Italian municipal police

Although they do not belong explicitly to the security forces, the Italian municipal police officers can be regarded as police officers with whole share. Indeed, in addition to their administrative policing powers in the matters falling within the competence of the communes, they have functions of state highway patrol, public safety and judicial police. The agents of the municipal police are police officers legal and the people responsible for service are judiciary police officers.

Moreover, if they observe certain conditions of morality, the municipal police officers are security agents public. This quality enables them to carry a weapon without having to require license.

A decree of the home secretary fixes the categories of weapons of which can be equipped the municipal police officers who are security agents public. Currently, only the very small communes have a not armed municipal police.

The outline law specifies that the uniform of the municipal police officers must be distinguished from those of the font of State and the armed forces.

c) very limited competences of the German and Portuguese municipal police

In Germany, the municipal services of the maintenance of law and order, people responsible for public safety, have variable competences from one Land to another. Generally however, in addition to their activities of patrol, they can carry out identity checks, with arrests, even with expulsions.

The agents of these services are seldom armed. They carry a uniform. In the Land of the Rhineland-Palatinat for example, a regulation specifies that the uniform of these agents must be distinguished clearly from that of the font.

In Portugal, the law of 1994 limit competences of the municipal services of font to the only missions of administrative font which return to the communes. Consequently, it does not authorize that the port of a weapon of defense. It provides in addition that their uniform is distinguished clearly from that of the other security forces.

In the facts, as the law of 1994 is not implemented, the majority of the common Portugueses have “municipal guards” charged to take care of the respect of the local by-laws.

The project of outline law currently in preparation should make it possible to increase the role of the municipal police by fully associating them with the hold of the law and order.

The foreign municipal police thus constitutes a heterogeneous unit. Only the municipal police German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese is comparable with the French municipal police. In this group, it is however advisable to oppose Spain and Italy, where the municipal police constitutes a font with whole share, Germany and Portugal, where the municipal police is above all the municipal services.

It also should be specified that in Italy, as in Portugal, a reform of the municipal police is currently under investigation and that, in these two countries, he is planned to entrust the hold of the law and order on the communal territory to the municipal police.

In spite of their range, all adhere to the same great principles of organization.

Indeed, in addition to possible specialized fonts, each one of them has three fonts.

The font of general security represents more of two thirds of the payrolls. She assumes the main part of the police tasks, except for those which are ensured by the other fonts. As uniform, it acts especially on the public highway. It is placed under the authority of the home secretary of the Land.

The criminal font has only functions of judicial police. It deals only with the most serious businesses, which require specific competences and cannot thus be followed by the font of general security. It is placed under the authority of the home secretary of the Land.

The force of permanent reserve is affected in a specific way to maintenance missions of the command (possibly in another Land). It also ensures the initial training of the police officers: the passage by the force of permanent reserve is obligatory before the input in the font of general security. This force was created on the initiative of the Federation. It is placed under the authority of the federal minister for the Interior.

The Federation also has police force. Two more important are the federal Office of the criminal font, which discusses the businesses exceeding the framework of a Land, but in close collaboration with the criminal fonts of different , as well as the font of the borders.

Such services exist indeed not only in the communes but also in the other territorial collectivities (districts, groupings of communes…)

They ensure public safety on the territory of the community.

In all , the municipal employees of the police and stewards belong to the communal personnel, without necessarily belonging to the local civil service.

The regulation of the home secretary of the Land of the Rhineland-Palatinat relating to the municipal employees of the police and stewards specifies that the members of these services must:

- to fill the requirements by the law of the Land on the civil service;

- to follow an adapted formation, in the police academy of the Land or in another establishment placed under the control of this school. From one six weeks duration, this formation understands in particular exchange rates of right of the font, administrative law, criminal law and right of circulation.

The municipal employees of the police and stewards have a business card. They can carry a uniform. The regulation mentions the color (green) and indicates of it that it must be distinguished clearly from that of the font. It specifies that the name of the commune and, if necessary, the blazon of the city must be reproduced on the left sleeve. In the same way, the vehicles of service should not be same color as those of the font.

Under the law of the Land on the font, only the following functions can be entrusted to the municipal employees of the police and stewards:

- recordings of identity;

- arrests and detentions;

- checks of the documents establishing certain rights when their production is provided for by a text;

- expulsions;

- setting in safety and monitoring of goods;

- use of the force, within the limit where the only weapon which is authorized to them is the bludgeon.

Indeed, the members of the communal services of maintenance of law and order can be equipped only with bludgeons, shackles and dogs.

It is the mayor of each commune which decides functions which are allotted to the municipal police and stewards. The business card of each agent is marked of the functions which it is entitled to exert.

 

The English system is characterized by a strong decentralization of the police force. There does not exist national police force, but only of the local forces placed under the responsibility of the ministry for the Interior and elected authorities. The Font of 1964 fixed at forty-three the number of police force for England and Wales. Each county or grouping of counties has its police force, alone responsible in her spring for competences. The responsibilities as regards font are distributed between three parts: the chief of the font and authority of font for each police force, and the home secretary at the central level. A chief of the font () is with the head of each force. Chosen by the local authority of font on a list forwarded by the ministry for the Interior, it has a great operational range. It can be dislocated only by the home secretary. The authority of font is in charge to ensure the financial management of the police force and to control the use of the budget by the chief of the font. It consists of two thirds of local advisers and a third party of magistrates. The government recently proposed that the authority is made up of eight local advisers, three magistrates and five local personalities. It meets every month to understand the report of the chief of the font on the activities of its police force and on the way in which the goals are pursued which were assigned to him. At the central level, the responsibility for the font falls to the home secretary. It can intervene to define the rules of appointment, advance and discontinuance of business, the discipline, the uniform, the schedules and remuneration. It is assisted by Home off which inspects each year the police force. The purpose of this control is to appreciate the implementation of the ministerial Directives and the adequacy between financial means released and the results obtained. The Home Office contributes to the budget of the police force to height of 51 %, the remainder being financed by the municipalities.

BELGIUM

If the specialized fonts are excluded, there exist three security forces interior.

The gendarmes have missions of administrative font and judicial police which they exert on the whole of the national territory.

There is no legislative distribution of competences between communal font and gendarmerie. However, a law of 1997 provides that: “the burgomaster can require the gendarmerie with a view the execution of the missions of administrative font.”

The authority of the burgomaster is thus strengthened. In parallel, an information exchange is provided for, and a coordination of the activities of the communal font and gendarmerie are imposed.

The cohabitation between communal font and gendarmerie proves to be delicate. But the role of the gendarmes is often complementary to that of the communal police officers, of sometimes insufficient number to ensure a local service of quality, in particular in the nonurban areas.

Since the law of July 18th, 1991, the gendarmerie is demilitarized and notes from now on jointly of the ministry for the Interior (for its missions of administrative font) and of the Department of Justice (for those of judicial police).

It counts approximately 16.000 agents.

Attached to the parquet floor, it is in charge of the repression of criminality: seek grave offenses and arrest of their authors, in particular when the investigations to be led exceed the limits of competence of the local police.

It understands less than 5 % of the police payrolls (approximately 1.200 agents).

Organized under the authority of the burgomaster, but placed under the supervision of the ministry for the Interior, they are 589, representing 18.745 communal police officers.

The most important attributions of these fonts relate to the administrative font, the judicial police, the hold of the law and order and the control of the road traffic.

It there two kinds of communal fonts:

- the urban font in a community higher than 10.000 inhabitants;

- the rural font, in a community which counts less than 5.000 inhabitants. The 223 rural fonts count 1 054 police officers.

In the communities of which the proportion lies between 5.000 and 10.000 inhabitants, the town council chooses an urban font or a rural font. This distinction does not have a consequence on competences of the municipal police.

If the burgomaster is juridically the chief of the font, its authority in fact is relayed by the chief of police, who is a police chief in the urban fonts and a rural policeman in the rural fonts.

Under the terms of the principle of the communal autonomy, each municipality has a whole freedom in the organization of the administration of its font, which it finances.

According to article 189 of the communal law, the conditions of recruitment, formation, appointment and advance of the members of the communal font are determined by the town council “within the limit of the general rule stopped by the King”.

In addition, article 227 of the communal law provides that “the King regulates the training of the members of the communal font. For this purpose, it creates or approved one or more training centres”. A very significant number of royal closures limited the competence of the town council.

The formation of the agents is organized by various specific centers of instruction to each province.

The port of the uniform is regulated by the royal closure of April 24th, 1995: the municipal police officers have a uniform #702636 blue.

Competences of the communal font were specified by the law of August 5th, 1992 on the function of font.

a) The administrative font

Article 14 of the law indicates that:

“In the exercise of their missions of administrative font, the gendarmerie and the communal font take care of the hold of the law and order including the respect of the laws and regulations of font, the prevention of the infringements and the protection of the people and the goods.

“They also carry assistance to any person in danger.

“For this purpose, they ensure a general surveillance and controls in the places which are legally accessible, transmit the report of their missions for them to the competent jurisdictions as well as the information collected at the time of these missions, carry out measurements of administrative font, take material measures of administrative font of their competence and maintain the contacts with them, with the qualified administrations like with the other police services”.

Article 172 of the communal law indicates that the burgomaster is the chief of police of the communal font in the exercise of his missions of administrative font.

b) The judicial police

The three police force of internal security has the capacity:

“1° to seek the crimes, the offenses and the infringments, of to gather the evidence, of to make known to the competent jurisdictions, of to seize, stop and place at the disposal of the competent authority the authors, the manner and in the forms determined by the law;

“2° to seek the people whose arrest is provided for by the law, of to seize, to stop them and to place them at the disposal of the competent jurisdictions;

“3° to seek, seize and place at the disposal of the competent jurisdiction the purposes whose capture is prescribed;

“4° to transmit to the competent authorities the report of their missions as well as the information collected on this occasion”.

The Minister for Justice can give to the chief of police the general Directives necessary to the achievement of the missions of the judicial police. In the exercise of these missions, the members of the communal font who have the quality of judiciary police officer are placed under the monitoring of the public prosecutors and the authority of the courts of appeals.

In addition, the magistrates of the parquet floor and the examining magistrates can require and delegate all the judiciary police officers with a view achieve acts of judicial police.

c) other competences

They are very diverse:

- font of the road traffic;

- intervention in the event of calamity, catastrophe or disaster;

- monitoring of condemned released conditionally and the accused left or freed;

- capture of the prisoners and condemned escaped and various missions in connection with the situation from the prisoners;

- respect of the laws and the regulations on the access to the territory, the stay, the establishment and the distance from abroad, and seized from abroad noncarrying identification papers or the requested documents for the access and the stay on the territory.

These competences are exerted in common with other security forces: special gendarmerie and/or police services.

a) Means

Certain communal policemen have the administrative quality of police officer and judicial police: police superintendents, main inspectors of first class, rural policemen as a chief.

The communal font can enter in the places accessible to the public, the abandoned buildings in order to take care of the hold of the law and order and the respect of the laws and regulations of font or to carry out missions of judicial police.

It also can, under restrictive conditions enumerated in the law of August 5th, 1992, to carry out excavations of people or vehicles, administrative captures and to operate administrative arrests (for twelve hours maximum).

Moreover, the communal police officers can, according to article 34 of the law, to control the identity of certain people. They can also resort for the use of the force “to continue a legitimate interest which cannot be reached differently” and this, in a way “reasonable and proportioned with the aim in view”.

b) The armament

The communal police officers are armed. The royal closure of April 10th, 1995 regulating the armament of the communal fonts precise that the officials lay out:

- of a bludgeon;

- of a revolver and/or semi-automatic gun;

- of an aerosol of .

Article 38 of the law of August 5th, 1992 indicates that they can make of it use only in the following cases:

“1° in the event of within the meaning of articles 416 and 417 of the ;

“2° against people armed or in management with vehicles on board of which are armed people, in the event of crime or of obvious offense within the meaning of article 41 of the criminal instruction code, made with violence, when it is reasonably allowed to suppose that these people have a firearm ready with employment and that they will use it against people;

“3° when in the event of absolute need, the police officers of the communal font and the gendarmerie cannot differently defend the people, the posts, the transport of dangerous goods or the places entrusted to their protection.

“In these cases, the firearms can be used only in accordance with the instructions and under the responsibility of an police officer administrative;

“4° when in the event of absolute need, the police officers of the communal font, the gendarmerie and the judicial police close the parquet floors cannot differently defend the people entrusted to their protection within the framework of the execution of a mission of judicial police.

“In this case, the firearms can be used only in accordance with the instructions and under the responsibility of an judiciary police officer.

“The recourse to the weapons provided for with the 2°, 3° and 4°, is carried out only after warning given aloud or by any other means available, including a warning, unless that does not make this recourse inoperative”.

The communal character of the font implies necessarily a limited territorial competence.

However, there are two cases in which the competence of the police officers can be wide .

· Two or several city councils can make it possible to the members of their respective bodies of font to exert their functions in the common interested parties. This provision offers faculty to the communal authorities, with the authorization of the governor of province, to conclude from the collaboration agreements. In practice, this faculty is used very little.

· There exists a right of continuation and arrest on the territory of another commune of the presumed author of an infringement, or a condemned individual of the chief of an infringement. This right however is subordinated to the fact that the continuation is uninterrupted and that the urgency of the operations makes impossible the recourse to the local authorities.

The communal level not being always adapted more, the need for one structure to wide more important involved the creation of the areas (ZIP) by the ministry for the Interior in 1995.

The ZIPS aim at of set up a real structure of inter-commune co-operation between the communal fonts and the gendarmerie, by cutting out the understanding territory in areas from one to six communes.

The creation of the ZIPS rests on local agreements between the police superintendent and the commander of the gendarmerie squad. In the ZIPS, the citizens profit from a continuous police presence, seven days out of seven, twenty-four hours out of twenty-four.

Moreover, in order to coordinate the shares of the services at the local level, the federal authorities set up a pentagonal co-operation. It systematically joins together the prosecutor of the King, the burgomaster and the people responsible for the communal font, the gendarmerie and the judicial police to lay down the local criminal policy and the priorities as regards criminality.

But the question of the restructuring of the police services goes beyond this simple measurement of co-operation. After the publication of the conclusions of the Commission “” on removals of children, the government constituted a “commission on a more effective police structure” ( Commission).

The report submitted at the end of June 1997 recommended creation, on the level of the areas , a single local police made up of the current communal fonts and local brigades of gendarmerie, under the management of a chief of font by area and under control partial of the communal authorities.

A governmental note of October 7th, 1997 adopted by the Council of Ministers in February 1998 ratifies this guideline.

The objective of the reform is to create two levels of fonts:

- one, local, composed of the communal fonts and the territorial brigades of gendarmerie, under the authority of the burgomasters and the prosecutor of the King. The ZIPS will be able to melt in only one “integrated operational unity”, communal gendarmerie and fonts;

- the other, national, resulting from the merger of the judicial police, the specialized fonts and the central services of the gendarmerie.

The organic law of 1986 distinguishes three categories of “forces and security body”: those of the State, composed of the national police force and the civil guard, those of the autonomous communities and those of the local collectivities.

Strong of approximately 75.000 men, she exerts same competences as the national police force, but only in the parties of the territory where the font is not qualified, i.e. in rural environment, like on territorial water. The civil guard is a military body, but it is placed under the double authority of the ministry for the Interior and that of Defense.

The legislative decree of April 18th, 1986 adopting the redesigned text of the legislative measures in force as regards local regime provides, in its transitional provision 4, that only the communes more than cash 5.000 inhabitants can decide the creation of an municipal police. In the smaller communes, the creation of an municipal police supposes the authorization of the ministry in charge of the territorial administration. This authorization is granted in a discretionary way. Moreover, the organic law of 1986 provides that, in the communes which do not have an municipal police, its missions are exerted by the municipal personnel in charge of the monitoring (vigils, porters, night watchmen…).

The municipal police is placed under the authority of the mayor, but they can be forwarded to the control of the autonomous communities, under the terms of article 148 of the constitution which states that: “The autonomous communities will be able to assume competences in the following matters: (...) coordination and other functions in connection with the local police (...)”.

Independently of their attributions of administrative font, the law of 1986 on the “forces and security body” recognize with the municipal police competence to collaborate with the police force of the State in the fields of the judicial police and public safety.

The municipal police makes great great strides: their payrolls doubled between 1975 and 1995. They count currently approximately 48.000 agents, divided into approximately 1.700 bodies which are of very variable size. Indeed, more than 200 of them contain one agent, while the town of Madrid has 6.000 municipal police officers.

The communes equipped with a body of municipal police officers represent 21 % of all the communes and almost 90 % of the whole of the population.

The following board highlights the increasing importance of the municipal police with the size of the commune.

Under the terms of the principle of communal autonomy, each commune enjoys a full freedom to organize its font. This principle is however limited: on the one hand, by the national provisions applicable to the municipal police officers and, on the other hand, by the functions of coordination reserved consequently law for the autonomous communities.

It is provided by the constitution and the law of 1986 whose article 39 states that it can relate to the following points:

- to establish general standards to which the regulations of municipal police must adapt;

- to support the homogenization of the various local police concerning average the techniques, the uniforms and remunerations;

- to fix the selection criteria, of formation, promotion and mobility of the local police;

- to coordinate the professional training of the local police.

All the autonomous communities, except for that of the Canary islands, adopted laws of coordination of the municipal police. Several of them were the subject of recourse for unconstitutionality. In several decisions, returned in 1993, the constitutional Court gave a progress report on the limits of the missions of coordination granted to the autonomous communities. It estimated in particular that the law of coordination of the local police adopted by the autonomous community of Valence was not constitutional because it subordinated the job creation of municipal police officers to the authorization of the autonomous community.

The functions of coordination of the autonomous communities cannot thus be opposed to the principle communal autonomy.

The decision to arm the municipal police is made by the mayor. The regime of the production, the trade, the detention and the use of the weapons and the explosives falling within exclusive competence of the State, a decree precise of which weapons the municipal police can be equipped. This text provides that the members of the municipal police can have the weapons necessary for the service and the drive, after authorization of the Head office of the civil guard.

In practice, the majority of the municipal police officers are armed. They generally have a gun of gauge 9 Misters.

The structure of the Italian font is very complex, and the various bodies which compose it often have competences which overlap.

If one excludes the specialized fonts (agents of prison, forest rangers of State), there exist four main bodies of font.

It is charged to maintain the command and public safety, to prevent the crimes and the offenses and to carry help in the event of accident or of catastrophe.

The font of State has three types of functions:

- as a national administrative font, it is charged to deliver the licenses and license;

- like public safety, it organizes is obligation with a service of permanent patrols;

- in its functions of judicial police, it has in charge the repression of the crimes and offenses.

It is a font in uniform, but of civil statute, managed by the ministry for the Interior.

It understands approximately 100.000 members.

Militarized police officers, they have military functions, since they are charged to contribute to the defense of the fatherland and the institutions. They intervene directly in the interior defense of the territory and help with the operations of mobilization.

The body holds also functions of font: to prevent and repress the crimes and the offenses, to remark the law and the regulations, to take part in the security and maintenance of law and order public, to ensure the safety of the legal debates and to contribute to the monitoring of the prisoners and the borders.

The police officers thus share certain competences with the members of the font of State. In theory, the first exert them in the rural areas and the seconds in the urban areas, but this rule suffers more and more from exceptions.

The police officers are 100.000.

It is a military font of statute, which is managed by the chancellor of the Exchequer. It is in charge with the prevention and the repression of a great number of traffics. It deals primarily of the prevention and the repression of the currency and drug trafficking, of the fight against smuggling, the monitoring of food hygiene, as well as prevention of the capital flight.

Moreover, the Guard of finances takes part in the monitoring of the coasts with the police officers and in the control of the borders with the fonts of State.

These three bodies are placed under the authority of the home secretary when they carry out missions of administrative font and maintenance of law and order, and of the Minister for Justice for the missions of judicial police.

In addition to their administrative policing powers in the matters falling within the competence of the communes, the municipal police has primarily functions of state highway patrol, public safety and judicial police.

The communes laid out before the law of 1986 of called , replaced today by services or municipal bodies of font.

When a commune has a police service understanding at least seven agents, it can create a body of font. The difference is in the number of hierarchical levels:

- a police service is directed by a person responsible who has under his authority of the agents;

- a body of font is directed by a commander, and understands an intermediate level in charge of control and coordination.

The mayor is the chief of the font and, for this reason, it is charged to take care of the good achievement of the tasks and to adopt the measurements provided for by the laws and regulations.

The communes must adopt a regulation which fixes the service organization of font. It must specify in particular:

- that the activities of font are ensured in uniform, except the missions which imply necessarily a behavior as a civilian;

- that the share of the police officers is limited to the communal territory, except in certain cases for which external operations are authorized. It is for example the case when they intervene in reinforcement of another police service for an exceptional occasion. This provision has as an aim of protection the communal autonomy.

The communes which wish to create a body of font must provide for the line organization in the regulation of it.

Article 6 of the law of 1986 gives to the areas the possibility of setting general standards for the municipal introduction of the police services and of promoting initiatives for the staff training.

Almost all the areas legislated on these topics, but little put these rules into practice. It is in particular the case of the “regional Schools of local police”, for which practically no agreement was made between the areas and the communes with a view determine their respective participations in this program. In 1997, only the Campania had concluded such an agreement.

The law also provides for that the areas must legislate as regards uniform of the municipal police officers in order to coordinate the characteristics of them, given that which it specifies that it must be different from that of the other forces, in particular of that of the font of State and the armed forces. The State also wished to standardize the color of the vehicles.

If the areas could agree on this last point, it was not in the same way for the uniform. There thus exist different appropriate dresses for the municipal police officers.

The diploma necessary to be allowed to pass the contest of municipal police officers is the diploma of end of secondary studies.

a) The state highway patrol

The municipal police is in charge with the prevention and the official report of the offenses as regards road traffic, of the recording of the accidents and the regulation of the traffic.

b) Public safety

In this field, the municipal police is in charge of auxiliary functions. Indeed, the public command and the security are “clean and exclusive” functions of the State and font of State. The contest of the local authorities can thus concern only one auxiliary collaboration.

These agents must take care of the , the security of the citizens, the respect of the property, of the laws and regulations of the State and the local authorities, and lend help in the event of accident.

c) the judicial police

The municipal police officers take up the traditional duties of official report and repression of the offenses and search of the culprits to forward them to justice. In these functions, they are under the responsibility of the magistrature.

a) Means

Article 5 of the law provides that the agents of the municipal police have the legal quality of police officers. The people responsible for service are, as for them, judiciary police officers.

In addition, certain municipal police officers are security agents public. For that, they must meet the following conditions:

- to be titular civic rights and political;

- not to be condemned or to have undergone a preventive sorrow for a voluntary offense and not to be exposed to a preventive measure;

- not to be expelled of the armed forces or the militarily organized bodies or deposed of the public laws.

It is the prefect who, after checking of the respect of the above-mentioned conditions, confers to the police officers the public quality of security agents. This quality authorizes them to carry a weapon without license for the achievement of their service. They must however have followed a drive and successfully to spend each year of the proofs of shooting to the target.

This provision was introduced to avoid any discrimination by the command of the municipal police.

b) The armament

Article 5 of the law of 1986 expects that local by-laws must lay down the procedures of the carrying of weapons by the police officers within the framework of the national regulation, i.e. decree 145 of 1987 of the home secretary. This fixed decree:

- the typology of the weapons (semi-automatic gun or revolver);

- the number of weapons available in the various commands of font;

- the access to for the drive.

It was enacted with the purpose of not leaving too much freedom to the interpretation of the communes so that a certain coherence prevails on the matter.

The armament of the agents must be proportioned and adapted to the requirements of personal defense, in relation to the provided service type.

The determination of the services for which the personnel of the municipal police is armed must be carried out by a specific regulation emanating from each local government.

The prefect, on the basis of figure of criminality and in the event of specific problems of security, can ask the mayor to arm all the agents with the municipal police which have the public quality of security agents.

This provision was interpreted as not putting at the charge of the mayors an obligation to arm their fonts as long as the prefect did not require it.

The home secretary, questioned on this subject, yet did not give an official answer. The debate took place at the local level with the prefects and the public prosecutors. The communal regulations will have to privilege the armament of the services of rapid intervention, night round and those in charge of the monitoring of the town hall and arms manufacture.

Today, the majority of the municipal police are armed or in the process of be it. Only some very small communes have a not armed font.

Several private bills tending to reform the law of 1986 were deposited with the House of Commons since the month of April 1997.

The last was to it on April 1st, 1998. It considers three axes of reform for the municipal police.

It first of all provides for to frame the range of the communes by setting-up:

- obligation for any commune of create a police service municipal;

- obligation to adopt, in the thirty days following the constitution of a body of font, the regulation which into fixed the organization.

It then sticks to specify and clarify competences of the municipal police officers. Concurrently to their functions of judicial police and state highway patrol, they must be seen recognizing the municipal quality of “police officers”, to which the functions of security agent correspond public. These functions can be exerted without “temporal or territorial limit”.

Lastly, the private bill seeks to strengthen the range and the responsibility for the person responsible for the police service, which should give its assent for any operation of detachment or command.

The Commission of the laws of the House of Commons charged a restricted committee with studying these various private bills.

In addition, on May 7th, 1998, main associations of local authorities concluded a protocol on the reform from the municipal police. This protocol contains many common points with the recently forwarded private bills. It provides in particular to entrust to the municipal police all the functions of administrative font that the law does not hold for the State. Responsible for the whole of the tasks concerned with the maintenance of law and order on the communal territory, the municipal police would be thus qualified to fight against the minor delinquency.

In addition, the professional character of the municipal police would be affirmed by the organization of competitive entry examination at the regional level and by a process of advance based on the professional capacity.

The security system interior is organized around the distinction between administrative font and judicial police. First is shared between two police force national (the font of public safety and republican national guard) and the municipal police, while second is exerted by a specialized body.

It is a civil font. It depends on the ministry for the Interior. Strong of approximately 20.000 men, it is qualified in the cities of more than 10.000 inhabitants.

It is a military font which depends at the same time on the ministry for the Interior and that of Defense. It understands approximately 15.000 men and primarily carries on its activities in the parties of the territory which are not covered by the font of public safety, i.e. in rural environment.

They fill only the tasks of administrative font which return to the communes. They do not have any capacity of stress.

Placed directly under the commands of the Minister for Justice, it constitutes a body specialized in the most important criminal investigations.

II. THE STATUTE OF THE MUNICIPAL POLICE OFFICERS

1) Provisions of the law of 1994

The law of 1994 equipped the municipal police officers with a national statute.

The members of the municipal services of font are placed under the authority of the mayor. They concern the general status of the local civil service. Their formation is policy-holder nationwide by the qualified organism for the training, initial and continues, of the personnel of the local communities.

A decree of the home secretary was to determine the uniform of the municipal police. The law specifies however that the model must be the same one on the whole of the territory and that it should not be able to be confused with that of the other security forces.

Reality corresponds to the legislative regulations, neither in both plus big cities, nor in the other communes.

The bodies of municipal police of these two cities, which respectively contain 580 and 55 people, consist of agents and senior police officers of public safety detached on request of the communal executives.

The towns of Lisbon and Oporto support the hardware and personnel costs which the operation of their municipal police implies. On the disciplinary and organic level, this two municipal police depends on the general commander of the font of public safety. In the operational field, they depend on the other hand on the chairman of the communal executive or its assistants.

The uniform of the members of the municipal police of Lisbon and Oporto is the same one as that of public safety. The only differences lie in the addition of a blazon at the weapons of the city and of a ribbon of color on the cap.

The “municipal guards” are recruited by contest, like all the members of the local civil service. They do not carry a uniform.

The law limits competences of the municipal services of font to the only activities of administrative font. It expressly prohibits to them to carry on the activities provided for in the law of internal security and the organic laws on the forces and police services.

It poses the general principle according to which competences of the municipal services of font are limited to the “control of legality and the establishment of official reports of infringement”.

It specifies that it belongs to them in particular of:

“a) to check conformity enters the use of goods or services and the standards applicable;

“b) to check the conditions of use of authorizations allotted by the parts of the communes;

“c) to control the exercise of the hunting activity in the areas of hunting whose communal communes or firms are agents;

“d) supervise the implementation of the discussions of the municipal and legal tendencies and lawful parts on circulation, insofar as this responsibility were not exclusively allocate to other parts;

“E) to take part in the municipal service of civil protection;

“F) to take the necessary measures with the monitoring of the municipal installations;

“G) to cooperate, in their , with the other municipal services and all the other public agencies which wish it and in particular with the security forces;

“H) to establish the official reports of infringement for infringment to the law or the local by-laws;

“I) to inform, on delegation of the communal executive, the procedures for infringement with the local by-laws.”

The officials of the municipal services of font have the obligation to establish an official report of infringment each time they detect an infringement concerned with their competence. They must communicate to the legal authority or police qualified the imminent crimes, clerks or, of which they are informed during the performance of their duties. They can resort only to the coercive means provided for by the law. Consequently, when the recourse to coercive means that they do not have the right to use reveals essential, they must request the intervention of the security forces qualified.

Indeed, the law authorizes at the municipal services of font only the carrying of weapons of defense. Moreover, the port of such a weapon during the service cannot be done without authorization of the communal executive.

The members of the two bodies of municipal police of Lisbon and Oporto have primarily a role of administrative font: they take care of the respect of the on the whole of the territory.

They can also carry out surveys of which they must address the results to the court and establish official reports.

To achieve the whole of these tasks, they have the same equipment as their police officers main road: they are armed, and their armament understands in particular a gun of 7,65 Misters.

The “municipal guards” are not any competent of judicial police. As regards administrative font, they take care only of the respect of the local by-laws.

They can use a weapon only under the same conditions as any other citizen, i.e. in situation of .

There exist three main police force:

- a federal force, Royal Canadian mounted police;

- a provincial force, the Safety of Quebec;

- municipal forces.

It is charged to take care of the implementation of the federal laws. But it provides also police services to the provinces (except in Quebec and in Ontario), to the territories and the municipalities (191 in 1995) which concluded from the agreements with the Canadian government. These services understand the detection and the prevention of the crime, the surveys, the implementation of the laws, the hold of peace and the command, and the protection of the property.

In 1995, the payroll of the gendarmerie was approximately 15.000 men.

It counts a hundred and eleven posts distributed in nine districts, which cover the whole of the Québécois territory. It is the only qualified police organization on the whole of the territory of the province.

It is charged to ensure public safety:

- is on behalf of the municipalities,

- is like forces auxiliary with the municipalities served by a body of communal font. It is the case for 273 communes.

It is in addition charged to take care of the implementation of the federal laws.

Article 64 of the law of font provides that the municipalities whose population is higher or equal to 5.000 inhabitants must obligatorily fix their territory with a body of municipal police, except exemption of the government; the others can be addressed, by the means of the regional municipality of county (MRC), with the Safety of Quebec, which will provide the police functions their place, realizing remuneration. The tariffing of the rendered service is calculated starting from two criteria: land wealth and population of the municipality.

Currently, the municipalities pour 70 million dollars to the Safety of Quebec. The costs of services which it returns are estimated at 200 million dollars. The Safety of Quebec does not invoice the dedicated services (like, for example, search by helicopter) which it ensures for the account of municipalities, that they are or not equipped with their own police service. The government currently carries out a readjustment in order to carry the share of the municipalities to half of the cost supported by Safety.

Indeed, the municipalities having their own body of font entirely assume the cost of it. This is why, in a preoccupation with an equity, it appeared necessary to note the share poured by the municipalities with Safety of Quebec. On a purely comparative basis, one can note that when the Royal Canadian mounted police intervenes for a commune, it invoices to him between 70 and 90 % of the engaged cost.

The MRC is charged to negotiate the agreements with the Safety of Quebec on behalf of the municipalities which compose it. The municipalities wishing of the additional services must assume the cost of it.

The reform is accompanied by an increase in the capacities granted to the elected local officials in the definition in the guidelines and the priorities in share in the police body in Safety in Quebec on the territory in their municipalities by the means of the Safety committees public (one by MRC). Those are composed of four municipal representatives and two members of the Safety of Quebec. Once the signed agreements, they exert a control on the quality of the police services on the territory.

Article 67 of the law provides that “any body of municipal police and each one of its members are charged to maintain the peace, the command and public safety in the territory of the municipality for which it is established, as in any other territory on which this municipality is competent, to prevent the crime as well as the infringements with its regulations and to seek the authors of them”.

According to the regulation on the basic police services of 1996, the municipalities must ensure, “whatever the mode of subjection of its territory to the competence of a body of font”, a continuous police presence with a view maintain peace, the command and public safety, the behavior of criminal investigations and the implementation of prevention programs of criminality.

The regulation indicates that the municipalities whose population is higher or equal to 5.000 inhabitants must moreover exempt the following services:

“- the 24 hour old patrol without interruption;

- following the official report of an infringement, to ensure the behavior of surveys including the gathering of the indices and the pieces of evidence, the arrest, if necessary, of the suspect, the deposition of the charges and the delivery of the official reports of infringement as well as the follow-up in front of the courts, subject to the following cases:

· the survey relating to a sexual assault or an aggravated theft constitutes a basic service only for the local municipality whose population is equal or higher than 15.000 inhabitants;

· the survey relating to a homicide or a suspect death, attempted murder, an sexual abuse into a miner which has occurred in school or institutional, to a removal, a serious or armed sexual assault, a case of arson having caused the death of a person or serious body lesions, or to a crime implying the use of explosive, constitutes a basic service only for the local municipality whose population is equal or higher than 50.000 inhabitants;

· the survey relating to crimes serious in series or networked extending apart from the served territory, to a homicide connected to the organized crime, a taking of hostages or cut off or barricaded people, to an extortion or a sequestration, the survey relative to criminal phenomena out of the commun run or which is in relation to events having exchange rate apart from the served territory does not constitute a basic service. “

As regards judicial police, the competences granted to a commune increase with its size. But for the most important cases, such as for example the surveys relative to serious crimes, they are never qualified.

The Safety of Quebec guarantees, as for it, with the municipalities of which it ensures the font, the following services:

- to patrol in the streets and on the routes of the served municipalities;

- to answer the appeals;

- to take care of the implementation of the criminal code and the provincial federal laws on the territory of the served municipalities;

- to carry out general surveys and to seek the authors of the crimes;

- to take care of the implementation of the code of road safety on the territory of the served municipalities and to bring of the victim assistance of traffic accidents;

- to carry out targeted interventions of prevention in road safety (operations radar, checks of vehicle);

- to proceed to patrols of monitoring in the commercial sectors, the industrial parks and the sectors of holiday, for example;

- to carry out the checking of bars;

- to implement prevention programs of criminality.

The dedicated services come to supplement the basic services. They generally exceed the needs and the capacities of the municipalities and are provided on the whole of the territory almost exclusively by the Safety of Quebec.