The Bouches-du-Rhône Police Prefecture (), headed by the Bouches-du-Rhône Police Prefect (''Préfet de police des Bouches-du-Rhône''), is a

Prefecture of Police In France, a Prefecture of Police (), headed by the Prefect of Police (), is an agency of the Government of France under the administration of the Ministry of the Interior. Part of the National Police, it provides a police force for an area lim ...

part of the National Police, which is a

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

force in the department of

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...

. It was created on 16 October 2012.

History

A delegated prefect for police was instituted in

in 1972 at the same time as in other French departments. In 1989, the office was re-named Deputy Prefect for Security, then in 1993, Deputy Prefect for Security and Defence. Although commonly referred to as "the police prefect", these prefects actually assisted the prefect of the larger security and defence zones, ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by r ...

'' the regional prefect of the zone's headquarters, in leading and coordinating the action of the police services in the department. Following numerous cases involving drug traffickers in the

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

urban area, the

Government of France The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

announced the creation of a full-service police prefect for Bouches-du-Rhône on 8 September 2012. A decree to this effect, which was presented to the Council of Ministers on 10 October 2012, was adopted on 15 October 2012.

Organic structure

Together with the Paris Police Prefect, this is the only full-service police prefect in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

; however, unlike Paris, the department of Bouches-du-Rhône remains organically attached to the National Police. Thus, whilst the Paris Police Prefecture has its own administration and specific competences (aliens, driving licenses, noise pollution, defence and security amongst others), this is not the case with the Bouches-du-Rhône Police Prefect who has only functional authority over the National Police and Gendarmerie services, as well as over the services of the prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhône for the execution of the powers which are entrusted by law.

Mission

The mission of the Bouches-du-Rhône Police Prefecture comprises the following four tasks:"Décret n° 2014-134 du 17 février 2014 relatif à l'organisation des services de l'État dans le département des Bouches-du-Rhône et aux attributions du préfet de police des Bouches-du-Rhône", ''Journal officiel'', Lois et Décrets n°0041 du 18 février 2014. # Implementation of the national internal security policy # Responsibility for public order # Authority over and coordination of the police forces and gendarmerie units # Administrative police decisions contributing to internal security in matters of drinking establishments, demonstrations on the public highway, video surveillance, weapons, private security and security of sporting events

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouches-du-Rhône Police Prefecture National Police (France) Bouches-du-Rhône 2012 establishments in France