French Policing in the Light of Procedural Justice Theory

This article synthesises the results from a number of recent French and international research studies dealing with relations between the police and public in France, based on procedural justice theory. Public opinion surveys converge to show that it is young people and the members of ethnic minotiries who have the most negative image of the police and show the least confidence in them. The article examines this negative image from surveys which concern the actual relations of these groups with the police, marked by reciprocal hostility and discrimination by the police, and then proposes an explanation based on the history of French policing, endeavouring to identify what is specific about the French police ‘style’ in relation to public security.