Central Directorate of Public Security


The Central Directorate of Public Security is the uniformed patrol and response arm of the French National Police responsible for keeping the peace and maintaining public order in the cities and large towns of France.
The DCSP consists of over 78,000 mainly uniformed police personnel known as Gardiens de la Paix deployed in 102 Départemental directorates with 462 Urban Offices. They provide general police services, including crime prevention, patrol, and response to calls for assistance. It maintains a small plainclothes corps who investigates local crimes; these are organised into Criminal Brigades.
The DCSP also deploys 9 Groupes d'Intervention de la Police Nationale, intervention units similar to the Recherche Assistance Intervention Dissuasion team.
There are also dog units, boat units, and an air wing.