Officer or blue collar? The new criminal police officers in France

In the 1990s a number of reforms profoundly changed the structure of the French National Police Force, particularly those concerning the legal powers granted to the different categories of staff. One of these reformsgave, under certain conditions, some rank-and-file officers the power to investigate and coerce suspects, a power which had previously been reserved for detectives or to higher rank officers. Based on a survey in the street-level criminal police unit of the police department in a large city, this article examines the consequences of these reforms on officers’ practices and the functioning of the institution.