Overview
- IGPN director Stéphane Hardouin said the inspectorate will seek a stronger role over departmental deontology cells, including a right of review and control that does not fully exist today.
- He announced a Friday meeting with zonal directors to organize routine "depaysement" of cases judged too close to local chains of command.
- The moves follow an NGO report claiming the IGPN handles only about 10% of criminal probes into police conduct, with roughly 90% delegated to opaque local units under departmental police directors.
- Flagrant déni also reports a 59% rise in cases involving holders of public authority since 2016 and a 25% drop in elucidation rates, while victims and lawyers describe biased initial inquiries.
- Police leadership disputes the NGO’s reading, asserting the IGPN takes the most serious cases with a 95–100% clearance rate, noting magistrates direct local probes and citing investigator vacancies of roughly 20% in September 2025.