Police et politique dans la gestion des foules : un cas d’étude

In order to fill a lack of knowledge about the most “political” task of police work: policing protest, this thesis proposes a new perspective on the relationship between police and politics. In order to do so, the objective of the research is to answer a main problem that can be summarized as follows: how do the police perceive the demands of governmental authorities and to what extent do police officers adhere to their role during policing protest? To answer this central question, sub-questions have been formulated to understand : a) the functioning of the chain of command during policing protest in Italy; b) with regard to the chain of command and at the field level, how the police interpret their mandate in relation to the management of public order; c) whether the police (both management and field agents) and government authorities share the same vision of public order management (or not); d) and, if expectations of the political authorities are met by the police in the mandate of public order activities. The aim was therefore not to define the phenomenon being analysed, but to highlight some of its dimensions, or rather, those that appear less explored in the literature on the subject. In order to answer these questions, this work will put forward a reading of the police which will move away from both the criterion of autonomy and that of the police's filiation to State power (Brodeur, 1984). According to the interpretative perspective of this text, police institutions are an integral part of society, participate in its attempts at political organization and governance (Palidda, 2010; 2000) and act as “moral entrepreneurs”, in agreement and in concert with political institutions (Becker, 1966). From a methodological point of view, this study is based on 14 face-to-face interviews with members of the Italian police force and politicians, 189 transcripts of testimonies of police officers and politicians in the trial against the No Tav demonstrators, as well as 77 press articles. Discussing the relationship between the police and political power that seems to be present during policing protests, the ultimate goal of this research is to understand how the police resolve the multiple tensions that run through their profession and which are particularly prevalent in the context of large-scale citizen mobilizations, between policing and respect for freedom of expression; but also between a police force at the service of citizens and a political police force. In other words, this study attempts to highlight the complexity and interconnections of the role of the police facing policing protest, and in relation to politics. The common thread that this text will gradually reveal is the privileged link that the political power establishes with the police institution and the process at the origin of this interaction. In order to do so, the study will start from an analysis of the different functions within the police IV chain of command and by continuing the search for points of connection with the political universe - not only within the police institutions, but also outside in the political frame of reference where the link between police and politics finds fertile ground, is nourished and comes to fruition -, the analysis will focus on the critical aspects that this relationship brings to the operational level of the police. It can be seen that the demands of political power have a direct influence on the technical-operational choices of the police, much more than one would have imagined at the outset. This study reveals a relatively unknown image of an Italian police force which must face the challenges of government authorities in order to carry out its mandate of maintaining public order. In other words, the alleged independence and professionalization of the Italian police is unfinished business and is a sensitive issue, especially when it comes to analysing the functioning of policing protest. It follows that the image of the police as a professional body, independent and in control of its own operational choices, must be called into question, at least as far as the Italian case in question is concerned.

Keyphrases: Police, Politics, Policing protest, Protest policing style, Moral entrepreneurs, Demonstrators, Qualitative methodology