More and more cities (even Paris, since October 2021) are adopting a municipal police force. But not all of them are attractive to applicants. Unlike officials of the national police, who do not choose their assignment, municipal officers can easily (transfers are granted automatically) change town to join a better endowed, better equipped unit.
Some police officers have ten municipalities in their careers. And from one town hall to another, they do not hesitate to bring competition into play. How do some of these territorial officials, despite being subject to a salary scale, manage to get paid more? On condition of anonymity, with supporting pay slips, a seasoned municipal police officer revealed the existence of a comfortable bonus system to the teams of “Additional investigation”.
The bonuses can vary the salary “enormously according to the municipalities”
At the discretion of the mayors, these bonuses “can vary enormously depending on the municipality“. And would even sometimes be attributed to the head of the client, according to the agent, who speaks of”hangover bonuses“:”Depending on how you are rated, there are certain bonuses you get and don’t get.“With 1,000 euros in bonuses which are added to his 2,380 euros per month, this confirmed municipal policeman earns 600 euros more than a national policeman, with equal experience.
You arrive at a recruitment, if you are told: ‘No, the special post allowance *, you don’t have it’, you leave. It’s a football transfer window. Bayern, they pay better than PSG, or vice versa, so I’m going there because… in fact, I don’t care about the jersey. It’s pretty unhealthy.
A municipal policemanto “Further investigation”
In some towns, “they only keep the cannonballs”
Are municipal police officers becoming mercenaries willing to sell themselves to the highest bidder? The perverse effect of such a system is also that it widens the inequalities between municipalities. In some cities, according to the police officer who testified for “Further investigation”, “good agents don’t stay. There are still a few police officers who are not crazy about work, not necessarily very competent, and who do not have a great professional conscience. You have municipal police which are really at the top, and then others which deserve a good boost, because … they only keep the balls“.
* ISMF: Special monthly allowance for functions, bonus specific to the municipal police.
Extract from “Municipal police: the new mercenaries”, a document to see in “Further investigation” on December 2, 2021.
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