It is a course open to foreigners… not very well known! Every year, for 66 years, France has trained and trained 15 officers and 15 police commissioners, nearly 2,000 since the creation of this course. Students from all over the world who, once back in their country of origin, are called upon to hold positions of high responsibility. Report in Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d’Or, near Lyon, at the National Police School, where apprentice foreign commissioners are trained.
On the menu this afternoon: course on the means of communication with the famous walkie-talkie! The ten-month training has just started so we have to review the basics for these foreign students. And even if all the students already have experience in the police of their country, communication is sometimes less obvious than expected.
At the other end of the park of the national police school, behind the place d’armes, in the middle of a walkie-talkie exercise, here is Mohamed, 34, freshly arrived from Djibouti, his native country: In Djibouti, I am the head of the flagrante delicto unit, at the central police station. We have a lot of voluntary violence, embezzlement, we have death threats. »
If Mohamed wants to get his commissioner’s degree in France, it’s because he has an idea behind his head: ” After obtaining my title of commissioner here, when I return to my country, I will reach the rank of captain. »
An advantage for him, but also for the police in his country, because it allows him to be ” immersed in an operational service and know how it is done, Mohammad detailstry to take inspiration from certain effective techniques in order to be able to import them. We are trying to build the police of tomorrow. »
A cooperation that gives France an international status in terms of safety training
The training here is completely free. The Saint-Cyr site, near Lyon, welcomes French student commissaires as well as 15 foreigners per year. Among them, the brigade leader Imène Ghodbane lives in Algiers. It was she who was selected by the Algerian services to come to France.
” I took part in a competition at the level of the national territory, says Imene Ghodbane. There were about fifty, maybe sixty people, there was already a selection from my management, written tests, in particular on our abilities in French, oral tests. Then we had an interview at the embassy. »
Martine Coudert is the director of the National Police Academy. She insists on the added value for her foreign students: “ It’s win-win, for them this training is very heavy, it’s ten months. They leave with a diploma that has significant value. We have foreign police executives who have become directors general of the national police of their countries, which is not bad after all! »
To apply for this training, three conditions are essential: to already have experience in the police, to be French-speaking and to be under 40 years old.