36-Quai-des-Orfèvres means a lot of memories for all fans of French or even foreign crime novels and movies. It is the address of the Parisian Criminal Police, the equivalent of Scotland Yard for the British and Londoners. C'est l'adresse du bureau du Commissaire Maigret des romans de Georges Simenon.
The "36-Quai-des-Orfèvres" and its competence
The Direction régionale de la police judiciaire de la préfecture de police de Paris (DRPJ Paris), often called the 36 quai des Orfèvres or simply the 36 (trente-six) by the address of its headquarters, is only the division of the Police judiciaire in Paris. Its 2,200 officers investigate about 15,000 crimes and offences a year.[1]
But 36-quai-des-Orfèvres n'a jamais eu d'autorité sur la France entière, seulement sur Paris et sa région immédiate appelée petite couronne. C'est à dire les départements des Hauts-de-Seine, de la Seine-Saint-Denis et du Val-de-Marne. Sa compétence très importante se limite à la lutte contre la criminalité et la délinquance organisée ou spécialisée, à la mise en œuvre et au contrôle des moyens de police technique et scientifique et d'identité judiciaire, des outils informatiques et des documentations opérationnelles d'aide aux investigations.
La Direction centrale de la Police judiciaire, the national authority et non pas seulement "parisienne" of the criminal police, is actually located at 11 rue des Saussaies, in the buildings of the Ministry of the Interior. The Police judiciaire, abbreviated PJ, is the criminal investigation division of the Police nationale. with branches in each "departements" of France.
Le "36-Quai-des-Orfèvres", now at 36 rue des Bastion, Paris, 75018
Since September 2017, DRPJ have their new headquarters at 36 rue du Bastion. This new building concentrated all services (before they were in different places). Only the Research and Intervention Brigade stay at 36 quai des Orfèvres.
L'histoire du 36 Quai des Orfèvres
The PJ (Police judiciaire) is the direct successor of the Sûreté, which was founded in 1812 by Eugène François Vidocq as the criminal investigative bureau of the Paris police. Vidocq was a former convict, sentenced several times before spying on his fellow inmates in prison, then being the initiator of the plainclothes police. This character has been the subject of several books and films about his life.
The Sûreté served later as an inspiration for Scotland Yard, the FBI and other departments of criminal investigation throughout the world.
In 1907, Georges Clemenceau, who was nicknamed "le tigre" ('the Tiger'), created the twelves "brigades régionales de police mobile", as per the suggestion of Célestin Hennion, then head of The Sûreté as follows: Paris ("1ère"), Lille ("2ème"), Caen ("3ème"), Nantes ("4ème"), Tours ("5ème"), Limoges ("6ème"), Bordeaux ("7ème"), Toulouse ("8ème"), Marseille ("9ème"), Lyon ("10ème"), Dijon ("11ème") et Châlons-sur-Marne ("12ème").
In 1913, Célestin Hennion newly appointed Préfet de Police, continued the reforms of his predecessor dividing the police force into three main departments, judicial, intelligence and policy agenda, hence giving to Parisian PJ its current form.
Since 2017, most of the Parisian PJ moved to the Batignolles neighborhood, in a new building shared with the Tribunal de grande instance, Paris's main tribunal. This project has been criticized because of its cost and the historic status of the 36
36 Quai des Orfèvres in fiction and films
This building of 36-quai-des-orfèvres did not only house the headquarters, the staff and the common services of the Regional Directorate of the Judicial Police of the Paris Police Prefecture. Because of its history and its iconic status within the French police, the 36 and its services have often been described in novels, films and TV series. Numerous crime films mention this address which is also the title of the French crime film by Olivier Marchal, released in 2004.
- Commissaire Maigret, a fictional police detective created by Belgian writer Georges Simenon, was based at the Quai des Orfèvres.
- 36, Quai des Orfèvres figures in the novel Long Lost by Harlan Coben.
- Quai des Orfevres is a 1947 film directed by Henri-George Clouzot with Louis Jouvet, Simone Renant, Bernard Blier and Suzy Delair, based on a novel by Stanislaus-Andre Steeman.
- 36, Quai des Orfèvres is a 2004 film by Olivier Marchal, starring Daniel Auteuil, Gérard Depardieu and André Dussollier, centered on the rivalry between the BRB and the BRI. It is partially inspired by real events which occurred during the 1980s.
- The police drama series Spiral follows, among other actors of the Palais de justice, the work and life of three officers from the 2nd DPJ.
- In the novel The Da Vinci Code, the DCPJ was mentioned as the group that found out about Jacques Sauniere's death and is also the force that Sophie Neveu and Bezu Fache are part of.
- The drama film Polisse centers on the Child Protection Brigade (BPM) and a photographer who is assigned to cover the unit. The film won the Jury Prize at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
What future for the 36 Quai-des-Orfèvres building?
No official destination for the building has been programmed. Important works to bring it up to standard will be necessary - but no programming and destination has been advanced for the end of 2021.
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