A new milestone for Gérald Darmanin. The 90 future departmental directors of the national police (DDPN), who constitute the heart of the very controversial police reform initiated by the Minister of the Interior, were officially appointed on Wednesday, as can be read in a telegram from the ministry.
These DDPN, dependent on the prefect, must take office in September. These directors will be responsible for all the police services in their department (intelligence, public security, border police, judicial police) with the particular objective of putting an end to the operation of the national police in “organ pipes”, deemed ineffective by the Interior.
Many PJ police officers opposed to this reform
Their appointment was scrutinized by opponents of this reform, in particular many PJ police officers, who see in this unity of command the primacy given to public security to the detriment of judicial investigations, as well as the growing weight of the prefect in investigations. In total, only seven of the 90 appointed DDPN previously held a position in the judicial police.
Among them are the current boss of the anti-terrorist sub-directorate (Sdat) Frédéric Doidy, leaving for Val d’Oise, or the zonal director of the Rennes PJ, appointed in the Var.
The overwhelming majority of new directors (78) worked in public security, while border police (4 posts) and territorial intelligence (1 post) split the rest.
“We cannot say that the PJ is mistreated”, underlines to AFP the director general of the national police (DGPN), Frédéric Veaux, who believes that he has built a “balanced” list. “Many DDPN, whose last position is in public security, have spent a large part of their career in PJ”, he underlines, quoting the future director of the Alpes-Maritimes, who passed through the PJ of Nice, Bastia and Ajaccio.
Few women named
On the low number of women (12 out of 90), the DGPN puts forward the brake of “geographical mobility” for several candidates.
“It is a hostile takeover of public security on all national police services”, denounces to AFP the National Association of the Judicial Police (ANPJ), created in the summer of 2022 to organize the response. “All of this indicates a choice of security policy geared towards order and public peace, to the detriment of the judiciary”, adds the same source.
The nominees “have all had to pledge allegiance to the reform, including the small number of pjistes”, notes, bitterly, a judicial police commissioner.