The French gendarmes belong to the Ministry of Defense. To become a gendarme you need to study at least three university courses and receive the diploma (licence). You will hardly ever meet gendarmes in Paris.

Police officers are the ones who watch the city’s law and order and control the traffic and they submit to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They can be recognized by their dark blue uniform with a big golden star on a chest. The Police officers wearing a light blue uniform (pervenche) are parking attendants or traffic wardens and they write out tickets for illegal parking.

CRS (Compagnie Républicaine de Sécurité) supervise law and order during demonstrations. Frontier guards (Police d’Air et de Frontières) check immigration documents at the airports and on the border. In front of some private company buildings such as banks, the security guards (vigilе) are usually present. Of all the city guards only the police have the right to stop passers-by and check their documentation (passport or ID).

French policemen are friendly (especially if they are do not suspect you of being a member of a protest movement or an illegal immigrant), but you should not argue or joke with them. Many of them do not speak any foreign language and are not always familiar with the area they patrol. The Parisian police actively promote new means of transportation; you can often see them on roller-skates or riding bicycles.