Line #14 UsefulNotes/LesCopsSportif


1	[[quoteright:348:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/11684-Photo_de_groupe_du_porte-parolat_500_4474.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: [[CatchPhrase "Vos papiers, s'il vous plaît."]] [[note]]Left: Customs member, Center: policeman, Right: gendarme.[[/note]]]]
3
4	->''"Nobody is not afraid of a policeman from France. That is why this hat is so effective."''
5	-->-- '''Description of L'Inspecteur''', ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''
6
7	Law enforcement forces in UsefulNotes/{{France}}.
8
9	There are basically three sorts of French police officers on the national level, as well as municipal forces:
10	* National Gendarmerie (''Gendarmerie Nationale''): Under control of the [[UsefulNotes/GaulsWithGrenades Ministry of Defense]], this military police force essentially covers the French countryside and small towns. They wear hats called kepis. The riot control role is shared by the Gendarmerie Mobile units, which, as their name implies, are part of the Gendarmerie. While in the United Kingdom, the United States and most other ex-British colonies, the idea of using military police to enforce civilian law would seem odd at best and tyrannical at worst outside of extreme emergencies, in France the concept of the Gendarmerie has a long history and nobody really thinks twice about it. France is however one of the few nations to still have a police force named "Gendarmerie" that actually ''is'' a gendarmerie; in various nations that picked up the concept from France when it was a colonial power, the gendarmerie was eventually merged into the civilian police but kept its name as a matter of tradition.
11	** The GIGN (''Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale'', National Gendarmerie Intervention Group) is considered the [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous most elite group]], and is only dispatched in extreme cases (assault with hostages, terrorism... Their most well-known operation is the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_8969 Air France Flight 8969 hostage situation]], where a group planning a 9/11-like terrorist attack on the Eiffel Tower was wiped out without losing any hostages during the assault [[note]]3 hostages had been killed beforehand and 13 wounded[[/note]]). They also have a strict [[FacelessGoons concealment of identity]] policy. They're also rather legendary for using a [[HandCannon .357 Magnum]] [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolver]], the Manurhin MR 73.
12	** The Mobile Gendarmerie (''Gendarmerie Mobile''), rather than being assigned to a particular region of France, given nationwide jurisdiction and also sometimes deployed overseas. During the Cold War, the Mobile Gendarmerie was even equipped with anti-tank weaponry, initially the AMX-13 light tank and later the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VBC-90 VBC-90 wheeled tank destroyer]]. Post-Cold War budget cuts eventually resulted in the VBC-90 being retired in 2010 and cannibalized for parts to keep the older, unarmed VBRG armored cars (more akin to what a typical SWAT team would operate) in service.
13	* Directorate-General of Customs and Indirect Taxes (''Direction générale des douanes et droits indirects'' or DGDDI)
14	* National Police (''Police Nationale'', better known under their old name: ''Sûreté Nationale''): Cover sizeable towns and cities.
15	** Includes the ''Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité'' (CRS), essentially France's riot police. Both the CRS and Gendarmerie Mobile have cool Robocop-dubbed suits to better withstand the various projectiles thrown at them by rioters. And also to [[PoliceBrutality impress those who'd think about rioting]].
16	** A lot of people considers the Gendarmes Mobiles to be [[EliteMook the upgraded, more violent version of the CRS]].
17	** While the aforementioned GIGN is part of the Army, the police have their own {{SWAT Team}}s: the RAID (''Recherche, Assistance, Intervention, Dissuasion'', Research, Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence) and the BRI (''Brigade Recherche Intervention'', Research Intervention Brigade) has teams in every large city. The RAID specializes in counter-terrorism while the BRI specializes in high-profile crimes such as robberies and kidnappings.
18	** Also includes the BAC (''Brigade Anti-Criminalité'', Anti-Crime Brigade), in charge of urban surveillance and specialized in actions inside violent crime areas. They usually operate in casual clothes, and watch the streets from unmarked police cars, to surprise the criminals.
19	* The ''Police Municipale'' or "municipal force" has the duty to enforce their employing city's by-laws, though some municipalities have taken to arming them and making them do missions [[JurisdictionFriction nearer from those of the National Police]].
20	* The '''Direction centrale du Renseignement intérieur''' (DCRI, Central Directorate of Homeland Intelligence) was formed in 2008 from the merger of two intelligence components of the National Police and now reports directly to the Interior Minister.
21
22	French Policemen, like their equivalents all over the world, have many nicknames : ''flics''[[note]]From a Yiddish word meaning ''flies''.[[/note]], ''keufs'' [[note]]Short for "keuflis" (which almost no one ever uses) which is "flics" backwards [[/note]], ''poulets''[[note]]Meaning ''chickens'' and coming from the fact the Paris Central Police Station was built on a former bird market in 1872. However, ''poulet'' is NOT slang for ''coward'', unlike the English ''chicken'', so this interpretation is erroneous.[[/note]], ''maison poulaga''[[note]]related to ''poulets'', means roughly ''henhouse'' in French[[/note]], ''condés'', or ''maréchaussée''[[note]]"Marshalry" : mostly used in the countryside, refering to the police force that became the Gendarmerie[[/note]].
23	----
24	!!Examples:
25
26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Film]]
29	!!French films
30	* ''L'Assaut'' ("The Assault") - A [[{{Dramatization}} dramatization]] of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_8969 the hijacking of Air France 8969]], with the climax centered on the storming of the plane by the GIGN.
31	* Creator/LouisDeFunes' most iconic role in the ''Film/{{Gendarme\|Series}}'', which included ''Film/LeGendarmeDeSaintTropez'', ''Film/LeGendarmeANewYork'', ''Film/LeGendarmeSeMarie'', ''Film/LeGendarmeEnBalade'', ''Film/LeGendarmeEtLesExtraTerrestres'' and ''Film/LeGendarmeEtLesGendarmettes''.
32	* ''Film/TheEmperorOfParis''
33	* Creator/JeanPaulBelmondo played quite a few [[CowboyCop maverick cops]] in films such as ''Film/PeurSurLaVille'', ''Film/CopOrHood'', ''Le Marginal'' and ''Le Solitaire''.
34	* ''Film/LaHaine'' ("Hatred"), another French movie.
35	* ''Film/District13''.
36	* ''Film/InspectorBlunder'', one of the most comically incompetent cops of French cinema, portrayed by Creator/{{Coluche}}.
37	* ''Un Flic'' - Flic being French for, roughly, "Cop" - is a character study of a dour, serious police officer and a flamboyant, brilliant criminal (played by Richard Crenna, famous for the Rambo movies).
38	* ''Film/BobLeFlambeur'', a [[TheCaper Caper]] movie about robbing a Casino, has an InspectorJavert type pursuing the title character. In the end, [[spoiler: Bob gets away clean because he never actually committed the heist, instead hitting a lucky streak at the gaming tables that made him more than he would have if he'd played his part. His partners, unfortunately, don't know this and get gunned down pointlessly.]]
39	* Just about any movie directed by Olivier Marchal, himself a former cop. ''Film/TrenteSixQuaiDesOrfevres'' remains his most critically acclaimed and successful movie.
40	* The ''Film/{{Taxi}}'' series is about a [[BadassDriver taxi]] [[DrivesLikeCrazy driver]] helping [[PoliceAreUseless inept cops]] to stop various criminal schemes (the Deuteragonist is one of said cops).
41	* ''My New Partner'' / ''The Cop'' and its sequel are comedies about a duo of sympathetic Parisian corrupt cops (its original title, ''Les Ripoux'', is French slang which basic means "The {{Dirty Cop}}s").
42	* ''L.627'' depicts the activities of a Parisian drug squad.
43	* One of the two protagonists of ''Film/TheMarkOfTheAngelsMiserere'' is a retired BRI cop named Lionel Kasdan thrown into a twisted investigation after the gruesome murder of one of his acquaintances. In the original novel, his partner is a member of the BPM (the unit specialized in investigation and repression of crimes against minors) named Cédric Volokine, but he has been changed into an Interpol agent named Frank Salek in the movie.
44	* In ''Film/LesSpecialistes'', the gendarmes hunting down the two escapee protagonists are heavily armed and use dogs and helicopters to find them.
45	* In ''Film/LesVisiteurs'', 12th century knight Godefroy de Montmirail {{time travel}}s to 1993 by mistake. Naturally, cops are called upon to deal with his FishOutOfTemporalWater antics once he gets violent. In one memorable moment, he confronts a whole squad of CRS (armed with shields and batons) with his sword and shield (it doesn't end well for him, but he's undeniably brave). He later takes revenge on the ''Maréchal des logis'' that summoned the squad by drugging him with sleeping pills and leaving him {{birdcaged}} in a dark dungeon in the SecretUndergroundPassage beneath the castle of Montmirail. That man [[GoMadFromTheRevelation goes mad when piecing together that Godefroy is from the Middle Ages]] in the sequel.
46	* ''Film/{{Wasabi}}'' stars the above's Creator/JeanReno, this time as a CowboyCop who travels to Japan for [[AsianBabymama personal matters]] regarding his local OldFlame.
47
48	!!Non-French films
49	* ''Film/TheBourneIdentity''
50	* In ''Film/MissionImpossibleFallout'', a French policewoman ends up a SpannerInTheWorks for the IMF in UsefulNotes/{{Paris}} and Ethan Hunt does his best to try defusing the situation (in French)... until she gets shot by Zola's men, then Ethan saves her life by shooting them dead and helping her to call her colleagues before fleeing with his team.
51	* ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' and other films featuring the {{clueless\|Detective}} and buffonish Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Creator/PeterSellers).
52	* ''Film/{{Taken}}''
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Literature]]
56	* Appear in many of the [[CrimeFiction crime novels]] of Creator/PaulFeval (who wrote from 1842 to 1875) including ''Literature/TheVampireCountess'', ''Literature/JohnDevil'' and ''Literature/TheBlackCoats'' series. He had a very cynical attitude so they're usually [[PoliceAreUseless useless]].
57	* ''Literature/{{Maigret}}'' features the eponymous Police Judiciaire inspector's efforts to solve murders in Paris.
58	* ''Film/TheCrimsonRivers'' (''Les rivières pourpres'' in the original French) is a novel and film featuring a team-up between a gendarme and detective from the National Police.
59	* Members of the Maritime Gendarmerie feature prominently in the ''Literature/YoungBond'' short story "A Hard Man to Kill".
60	* Commissaire Adamsberg, one of Fred Vargas' main characters, is a member of the Brigade Criminelle de Paris ; the Gendarmerie also plays an important role in some novels, giving an occasion to show the rivalry between the two forces.
61	* The full power of the French police/security apparatus is called into action to avert ''Literature/TheDayOfTheJackal''.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
65	!!French shows
66	* ''Les Boeuf-carottes'' ("Beef-carrots"), a series starring Creator/JeanRochefort about the IGPN ([[InternalAffairs General Inspection of the National Police]]).
67	* ''Series/Cain2012'', about Frédéric Caïn (Bruno Debrandt), a paraplegic (and [[DisabledSnarker somewhat]] [[DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery assholish]]) CowboyCop, and his nicer able-bodied colleague (Creator/JulieDelarme).
68	* ''Commissaire Moulin'', the longest-running French cop show (1976-2008), starring Creator/YvesRenier.
69	* ''Les Cordier, juge et flic'' (''The Cordier: Judge and Cop''), starring Creator/PierreMondy.
70	* ''Series/{{Engrenages}}'' (''Spiral'' in the UK, the French title meaning "cogs").
71	* ''Series/{{Lupin\|2021}}'': Since the protagonist is a LovableRogue PhantomThief, the {{Hero Antagonist}}s are cops naturally, most prominently Captain Romain Laugier (Vincent Londez), Lieutenant Sofia Belkacem (Creator/ShirineBoutella) and Youssef Guédira (Soufiane Guerrab).
72	* The two ''Literature/{{Maigret}}'' series, the one starring Jean Richard (1977-1990) and the one starring Creator/BrunoCremer (1991-2005).
73	* ''[[Series/{{PJ}} P.J.: Police Judiciaire]]'': Follows a Police Judiciaire unit's daily routine in Paris. This show was praised by actual police officers for its accuracy/believability.
74	* ''Series/ParisPolice1900'', a pretty uncomplimentary depiction of the Paris police force at the turn of the 20th century.
75
76	!!Non-French shows
77	* ''Series/AlloAllo'': "Good moaning". Sort of.
78	* Recurs several times in the Paris half of various ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' seasons, especially season 1.
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Video Games]]
82	* The final level of ''VideoGame/HitmanContracts'' requires Agent 47 to escape a GIGN assault on his hotel room.
83	* ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare3'' has the GIGN as allies in the campaign and as a playable faction in the multiplayer.
84	* One level in ''VideoGame/Battlefield3'' has you trading fire with French police.
85	* A recurrent playable faction in nearly every game of the ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'' franchise is the GIGN, from 1.6 to ''Global Offensive''.
86	* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': The Spy has a Nice Hat whose description currently serves as the page quote.
87	* They can appear to search the train and arrest Cath in ''VideoGame/TheLastExpress''.
88	* ''[[VideoGame/{{Driver}} Driv3r]]'' features the National Police in Nice. The Gendarmerie also appear in one mission.
89	* ''VideoGame/RainbowSixSiege'' has 4 playable GIGN characters.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Web Video]]
93	* Next to golfers and their [[DisproportionateRetribution hilariously over the top reactions to losing a ball]], the French cops are a favorite target of ''WebVideo/RemiGaillard''. Among others he's kicked footballs into their vans, stolen their hats or flashlights numerous times, given ''them'' parking tickets, dressed up as a butterfly to catch them in nets, dumped a huge bucket of bird "poop" on their vehicles while dressed as an owl, vandalized speed cameras, ''impersonated'' speed cameras, and driven past them in traffic in a go-kart [[VideoGame/MarioKart disguised as Mario]] and flipped them off. At least the police force of Montpellier can never say their jobs are boring.
94	[[/folder]]

Context UsefulNotes / LesCopsSportif