- In the 18th century, the police became a new form of city government, particularly in Paris.
- It was during this period that the first "detectives" appeared.
- An exhibition at the National Archives traces the history of the police during this period.
It was in the Age of Enlightenment that the police became more professional, both in terms of policing and the police, with the creation of the body of inspectors. It was also in the 18th century that we began to collect information on people likely to worry the royal state.
An exhibition at the National Archives * in Paris tells the story of the police during this period through around 200 documents. Isabelle Foucher, responsible for documentary studies at the National Archives, responsible for the Châtelet collection, is one of the three curators of the exhibition. She answered questions from 20 Minutes .
What did the police look like in the 18th century in France?
At that time, there was no national police. In all the cities of France, it is the aldermen, the mayors, who hold the police force. But the situation is different in Paris. At the end of the 17th century, the king decided to get his hands on the capital, in a way. He entrusted it to a lieutenant general of police, who was one of the officers of the Châtelet.
This decision touches on reason of state: we absolutely want to ensure that in Paris, local particularities are put down. There was the sling under Louis XIV, the wars with the Protestants… Throughout the 18th century, the Parisian population also greatly increased. Each year, 100,000 migrants arrived in Paris. People, goods, goods circulate a lot. Luxury rubs shoulders with the darkest misery. The city therefore worries the authorities. There have been several revolts in the past. Hence the idea that it must be monitored, controlled, and even locked up people to avoid rebellion. For this exhibition, we focus on the Parisian situation because we had access to the exceptional documents of the National Archives and those of the Arsenal library.
We discover in the exhibition that the police were responsible for controlling the price of wheat and bread ...
It is above all for reasons of public order. If the people have no bread, they revolt and it is disorder! Royalty therefore understands that it must feed the people. In the 18th century, economists wanted to free prices, free the market. It is the capitalist side of the Enlightenment. The police are in a different register. The lieutenant-general of police advocate price regulation and wish that the markets be supplied so that there is no riot.
So it was at this time that law enforcement was born?
Yes, totally, in the second half of the 18th century. There is also an emblematic document of this period written by a police officer, Jean-François De Bar, in which he imagines how to maintain order in a city. He plans how to position the police on a square to supervise the rioters.
We can also say that the police became professional during this period?
In previous centuries, everything related to policing has happened at the municipal level. There is also the bourgeoisie which takes care of the safety of the streets, to clean them. The police function became professional in the 18th century with the creation of police inspectors.
The police force will also increase during this period. In Paris, we will employ spies called flies to monitor the population. They are resellers, landlords who welcome migrants, the main tenants - the ancestors of the janitors - and delinquents who will infiltrate the environment: thieves, prostitutes but also writers. The number of spies at the time was quite large.
We also locked up a lot, at the time…
In Paris, out of a population of 600,000 people, 10,000 people are locked up in large general hospitals and all prisons. Because they are poor, alienated, beggars, delinquent ... It is 15 times more than today!
There is a section in the exhibit called "Love or hate the police". What relationships did the population have with the police when it was created in Paris?
On the one hand, the police will participate in the improvement of the city, in particular everything concerning lighting or street sweeping. But there is also a strong feeling of rejection among the population. In 1750, there was a riot after beggars and delinquent children, and even children of the bourgeoisie, were arrested and kidnapped from their parents because they were playing in public places. Parisians do not want that, they are going to lynch a fly The lieutenant general of police, he is going to be chased and run away. This feeling will rise crescendo.
Does the 1789 revolution mark a turning point in the history of the police?
At the time of the revolution, the lieutenant general of the police, Jean Charles Pierre Lenoir, was one of the emigrants. The inspectors and the lieutenant-general of police are going to be hated, but not the commissioners. In the notebooks of grievances, we can read the rejection of the police, the king's orders, confinement, the lack of public liberties, we criticize the fact that justice is opaque.
It was after the Revolution that the doors of the courts were opened. In the declaration of human rights, the democratic control of state agents and the police by the population is stated: "Society has the right to hold any public official accountable for its administration" (article 15) .
* "The Enlightenment Police, Order and Disorder in Cities in the 18th Century", from March 11 to June 29, 2020 at the National Archives, 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, 75003 Paris
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