After a return to school focused on education and ecology, Emmanuel Macron is refocusing on security. The Head of State unveiled this Monday, October 2, the map of the 238 new gendarmerie brigades which will be created by 2027, more than the 200 promised before his re-election. A way to strengthen the presence of law enforcement “on the ground”, he said.
Of the 238 brigades created in each department and overseas, 93 will be fixed – and will be staffed by around ten gendarmes on average – while 145 will be “mobile”, capable of moving to rural or peri-urban locations. The mobile brigades, which will have six soldiers on average, will travel by truck between the different municipalities in the most “landlocked” territories of their department, the Elysée had previously specified to AFP. The first will be installed next November and their creation should last until 2027.
The creation of these units “go contribute to better accessibility of people to public services, with the same aim as the creation of France service houses”, assures the Ministry of the Interior in his press kit. These new brigades “will offer residents public services such as welcoming the public, victims, and filing complaints,” he specifies. Some of these brigades will be specialized in order to adjust the State’s response to the specific needs of the territories. “Thus, they could be dedicated to the fight against environmental damage or domestic violence, for example,” indicates the Ministry of the Interior.
“This reinvestment is historic,” assured the Head of State this Monday in Tonneins, where he inaugurated a new gendarmerie barracks, accompanied by the Director General of the gendarmerie Christian Rodriguez and the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin .
The President of the Republic’s announcement was eagerly awaited by the territories concerned, rural or peri-urban areas. This is to respond to “the very strong expectation of proximity of the police and the gendarmerie” and to “strengthen the territorial network” of the State, indicated the Elysée.
Emmanuel Macron guest of France 3 this Monday
With these new brigades, there will be “2000 more gendarmes in our countryside”, said Gérald Darmanin last spring, specifying that the members of these brigades were already recruited. In total, these creations represent 2,144 additional gendarmerie positions, out of the 8,500 creations of law enforcement personnel announced by the government by the end of the five-year term.
The President of the Republic had promised the creation of these new brigades in January 2022, during a trip on the theme of security to Nice in the style of a pre-presidential campaign. He also announced an increase of 15 billion euros for the Interior budget and a doubling of the presence of security forces on public roads in 10 years.
These commitments were included in the orientation and planning law of the Ministry of the Interior (Lopmi), which promises this increase in credits over five years (2023-2027). This must, however, be confirmed in the state budgets debated each year.