Citation

Mouhanna C. Policing (Oxford) 2021; 15(1): 288-298.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/police/paab013

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

How do such striking events as terrorist attacks impact policing organizations? Are transformation and reform processes accelerated as a result? The case of France over the last 6 years offers a pragmatic perspective on a situation whose paradoxical aspects open interesting if sometimes counter-intuitive avenues to reflect on policing and its public image.In March 2012, a series of murders in Montauban and Toulouse ushered in a period of renewed terrorist threat which culminated in 2015 with three major attacks--against the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and Hyper Casher supermarket in January, and the Bataclan concert hall in November. The magnitude of the threat--which prompted the French Prime Minister to consider that the country was 'at war',1 and which put security forces at the centre of both media and government attention--sparked a number of research studies and public debates to try and determine the root causes of the violent turn taken in France or abroad--particularly in Syria--by France-born youngsters supposed to have been trained in the values of democracy (Khosrokhavar, 2014; Kepel, 2015; Roy, 2016). Besides this fundamental topic--which triggered a wide-ranging wave of interrogations concerning social networks, the education system, the integration of ethnic minorities, and more widely the youths in modern society, or even the functioning of the prison system--questions about the impact of policing methods on the rejection of French society by so-called 'radicalized' youths took longer to arise. Somewhat--and not illegitimately--blinded by its need for protection, public opinion refrained from criticizing policing institutions on such topics as their long-term handling of interactions with youths from ethnic minorities and deprived areas, or how they reacted to the 2015 terrorist attacks. Quite the opposite happened, actually, with many observers raving about the 'rekindled love affair' between France and its police. Only in 2016, in the wake of events that seemed completely unrelated to the terrorist threat, did any criticism of policing strategies start to emerge and develop.

Language: en