Police and Public Service

One of the most significant images of the Liberation of France was of the Parisian police headquarters being besieged by German tanks on August 19th, 1944, as policemen fought against the odds to defend it. Six days earlier, the capital’s police force had declared itself on strike and proclaimed its undivided allegiance to the Resistance. Elsewhere, police officers were heavily involved in the struggle for liberation. Law enforcement officers paid a heavy toll in lives but were to be rewarded for their involvement. Resistance newspapers hailed the unity between police and public. As a mark of respect, General de Gaulle pinned the Légion d'Honneur to the flag of the Préfecture de Police. The institution was determined to milk this new-found legitimacy. In Toulon, for instance, policemen took to the streets behind a banner declaring ‘Police in the Service of the People’. Many officers sincerely believed that this was the dawning of a new age in police-public relations.