page_title: Paris in the 18th century
section_title: The police
hierarchical_section_title: Paris in the 18th century / Institutions / The police
context_page_description: Paris in the 18th century was the second-largest city in Europe, after London, with a population of about 600,000 people. The century saw the construction of Place Vendôme, the Place de la Concorde, the Champs-Élysées, the church of Les Invalides, and the Panthéon, and the founding of the Louvre Museum. Paris witnessed the end of the reign of Louis XIV, was the center stage of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, saw the first manned flight, and was the birthplace of high fashion and the modern restaurant.
context_section_description: At the beginning of the 18th century, security was provided by two different corps of police; the Garde de Paris and the Guet Royal, or royal watchmen. Both organizations were under the command of the Lieutenant General of Police. The Garde had one hundred twenty horsemen and four hundred archers, and was more of a military unit. The Guet was composed of 4 lieutenants, 139 archers, including 39 on horseback, and four drummers. The sergeants of the Guet wore a blue justaucorps or tight-fitting jacket with silver lace, a white plume on their hat, and red stockings, while ordinary soldiers of the guard wore a gray jacket with brass buttons and red facing on their sleeve, a white plume on their hat and a bandolier. 1750 there were nineteen posts of the Guet around the city, each the manned by twelve guards.
  The members of the Guet were part of the local neighborhood, and were almost all Parisians; they were known for taking bribes and buying their commissions. The members of the Garde were mostly former army soldiers from the provinces, with little attachment to Paris. They were headquartered in the quarter Saint-Martin, and were more efficient and reliable supporters of the royal government, responsible for putting down riots in 1709 and 1725. In 1771, the Guet was formally placed under the command of the Garde, and was gradually integrated into its organization. The responsibilities of the Garde were far-ranging, from chasing criminals to monitoring bread prices, keeping traffic moving on the streets, settling disputes and maintaining public order.
  The Parisians considered the police both corrupt and inefficient, and relations between the people and the police were increasingly strained. When the Revolution began, the Garde harshly repressed the first riots of 1788-89, but, submerged in the neighborhoods of Paris, it was quickly infected by revolutionary ideas. On 13 October 1789, the Garde was formally attached to the Garde Nationale. It was reformed into the Legion de Police Parisienne on 27 June 1795, but its members mutinied on 28 April 1796, when it was proposed that they become part of the Army. The Garde was finally abolished on 2 May 1796. Paris did not have its own police force again until 4 October 1802, when Napoleon created the Garde Municipale de Paris, under military command.
caption: The policemen of the Guet, in blue uniforms, transport a cartload of prostitutes to the hospital-prison of Salpêtrière (1745)
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