Can Vietnam refer to the French model of communal police?

The current issues of security and order in rural areas are posing many difficulties and challenges to the forces ensuring security and order at the grassroots level. Meanwhile, the semi-professional forces assigned to the grassroots level are showing many limitations in terms of qualifications and professional capacity. Therefore, the arrangement of regularized forces to work as commune police at the present time is necessary and reasonable.

To have a more general view of the model of organizing forces to ensure security and order in the local area, VOV.VN reporter had an interview with Major Olivier Lefevre - French Police Attaché in Vietnam about the model of commune police in the French Republic. This is a model that is being developed and has many lessons for Vietnam when arranging specialized forces to ensure security and order in rural areas today.

PV:Why is the communal police force identified as one of the three important forces of the French Republic, sir?

Major Olivier Lefevre: First of all, this is a force with a long history, formed from the 16th to 18th centuries. At that time, the communal police force was built to protect the sovereignty of each commune. When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, the new regime did not recognize the communal police system in the past and established a communal police system under the new regime, according to the law of December 14, 1789.

Indeed, the formation of the communal police force comes from the needs of the people in the face of unsafe risks. Moreover, most of the local people as well as elected officials see that, when forming a communal police force like this, it not only ensures security but is very close to the local people and meets the specific conditions of the locality. Although, organizing such a force requires costs as well as the organization is not simple, they are still willing to form this force. And that force has existed for a long time.

As for the city of Paris, it has its own characteristics. There is no force like the commune police like other commune-level units in France, but there is an agency called the unit in charge of ensuring safety, security and prevention, in which there are officers in charge of functions like the commune police.

PV:Can you share the difference between the National Police and the Commune Police in the French Republic?

Major Olivier Lefevre: At the commune level, the police force is under the control of the mayors or commune chiefs and carries out tasks of protecting security, order, and even environmental sanitation in their local areas. Meanwhile, the National Police is under the Ministry of the Interior.

First of all, the local police, specifically the commune level, must ensure that the security and order in that area is safe. In case of an incident, they will try to collect as much information as possible to report to their superiors as well as to the National Police force to find solutions to handle it. Through that, we see that between the city police or the commune police and the National Police are two forces with different regulations and methods of operation.

Coming back to the challenges, the commune police are currently facing many challenges. I think that is also related to the changes in society. The most obvious risk that we can know is being attacked by terrorism. Especially terrorism by radical Islamic forces. When targeting this group, people do not need to distinguish whether it is the National Police or the commune police.

However, Islamic extremists are not the only culprits who attack the police, ordinary criminals can also attack the police. These are immediate issues that the commune-level police force needs to consider.

PV:In France, in the process of building the model, organizing the staff, equipment, means as well as training and recruiting the communal police force, what difficulties and challenges have you encountered, sir?

Major Olivier Lefevre: First is the issue of training. Now, the communal police force has to deal with not only local problems like before but also problems like fighting crime. Therefore, should we also train them to have the same skills as the National Police force?

The second problem is the equipment for the communal police force. Because, as we see, the communal police force, when they wear uniforms, is not much different from the National Police. When criminals attack the communal police force, they do not distinguish between the communal police force and the National Police force. The communal police force is not equipped with weapons, so they do not have the ability to suppress crime like the National Police force.

There are many questions, such as whether the communal police force should be equipped like the National Police force. Up to now, this issue has not had a definitive answer in France.

Recently, the National Assembly has reported and then forwarded it to the French Prime Minister for review, but there has not been a final conclusion yet. Currently, any mayor or commune chief who finds it necessary to equip his commune police force with equipment and weapons must provide a reason. In necessary cases, the commune chief or mayor can provide a legitimate reason to equip his commune police force with weapons. These are the current realities in France.

In fact, the commune police force is currently equipped with weapons at a rate of 84%, and it does not always have to be guns, it can be electric guns, batons, or tear gas.

Another issue is training. We see that the commune police now have to solve the problems they had to face before, so training in the necessary skills is also very important. That means we have to form training schools for the commune police, similar to how we have training schools for soldiers who will later become the National Police force. However, depending on the choice of police model, we have very different directions of development.

PV: If Vietnam builds a regular police force in charge of rural areas, what lessons do you think Vietnam can learn from the French commune police model?

Major Olivier Lefevre: Vietnam has chosen the communal police model as a formal one. But the specifics of that formal model will determine what can be learned or shared from the French model.

For example, we see that the commune police force may be a complementary force, distinct from the National Police force, and in that case it must go in a different direction.

Or there are cases where people see that the police force, the commune police force is like an extension of the national police force. Because, in some areas, the national police force is not present enough to ensure security in that area. Therefore, it depends on the direction we choose to have the right decision./.

Nguyen Hien