The police force responsible for more than 1,000 judicial investigations in 2020

After a record year 2019, the police in 2020 found an activity comparable to that of 2017 or 2018 in the number of judicial investigations, under the effect of the breathlessness of the movement of "yellow vests" and confinements, according to IGPN's annual report published on Tuesday. In 2020, the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) received 1,101 judicial investigations against 1,460 in 2019, said Brigitte Jullien, head of the IGPN, presenting her annual report to the press.

Slightly less than half of these investigations (532, 48.5%) concern alleged acts of violence, down 39% from 2019. These contested use of force occurred in 41.5% of cases. during an arrest or a similar operation, and in 21.5% of cases during demonstrations or security services.

An increase in referrals for racist or discriminatory insults

In 2020, referrals relating to allegations of racist or discriminatory insults were up slightly compared to the previous year (38 investigations against 21 in 2019).

The IGPN report notes a decrease "of 2/3 of investigations for corruption" whether active (19 against 52) ​​or passive (14 against 32).

Those relating to allegations of theft are down for the fifth consecutive year (75 against 89).

Brigitte Jullien underlined that the IGPN was seized only "of the most serious cases is 10% of the total amount of the cases".

In 2020, 173 pre-disciplinary administrative inquiries (224 in 2019, down 30%) were opened.

In this area, too, the IGPN only deals with serious or high-profile cases.

A focus on the yellow vests movement

The head of the IGPN presented for the first time a focus on the investigations linked to the movement of "yellow vests", which will have to evolve, all the investigations not yet being completed.

As of March 31, 2021, the Inspectorate had received 456 inquiries following complaints alleging violence.

88% (406) were closed.

70% of seizures were closed without follow-up, for uncharacterized offense or absence of offense.

"For 70% of the classifications, the judicial authority concluded that the use of force was legitimate, the remaining 30% resulting in particular from the impossibility of identifying the agents or establishing the existence of facts", explained Brigitte Jullien.

Nineteen police officers were prosecuted in 2020 (4 indictments, 14 referrals to the criminal court, and an alternative to prosecution), in connection with the movement of "yellow vests".

"Nine police officers were the subject of a sanction proposal"

The 69 administrative investigations conducted by the IGPN concluded for these 19 police officers "to ethical and professional breaches, in particular for disproportionate use of force or constraint, but also for breach of the duty of exemplarity, obedience and to realize". "Nine police officers, according to the report, were the subject of a proposed sanction and 10 were the subject of a proposal for referral to the disciplinary council."

The IGPN reporting platform received 5,420 reports in 2020, up 19% from the previous year. 10% of these reports were linked to the management of the pandemic (mainly contestation of the verbalization). The head of the IGPN has made public the figures for police suicides: 23 during the first six months of 2021, against 36 for the year 2020.