In France, the national police and gendarmerie jointly carry out public safety and law enforcement duties. Since the gendarmerie became part of the Ministry of the Interior in 2009, they have been under the same political authority. The internal security forces employ 253,000 police officers and gendarmes and have benefited from an increased budget for several years. However, the regional distribution of the areas of competence of the national police and national gendarmerie has changed little over the last 80 years, despite the changes that have taken place in terms of both demographics and criminality. Due to cumbersome decision-making and competition between the two forces, the map of areas of competence has not changed at all for ten years. In view of this, the Court analysed the regional distribution of the security forces with a dual aim of responding as effectively as possible to the security needs of the general public and optimising the allocation of public resources. The current distribution of forces, which is outdated and inconsistent, is a source of dysfunction and inefficiency to the detriment of the service provided to the general public. The Ministry of the Interior must address this issue as a matter of urgency and make the necessary adjustments.
