French Ministry of Interior, International department (France)

The French Ministry of Interior (Ministère de l´Intérieur) is at the heart of the State's action throughout the country to serve the French people’s needs and meet their expectations in the area of safety and security.

The International department (Direction de la Coopération Internationale/DCI) an active department of the French Police was set up in 2010. It is the first joint department of Police and Gendarmerie, created by a merger of the Police International Technical Cooperation service (SCTIP, set up in 1961) and the Gendarmerie International Cooperation sub-directorate (SICD, set up in 1985). Reporting to the heads of the Police and the Gendarmerie, the DCI contributes to the application of the Ministry’s international strategy and the implementation of France’s foreign policy in the fields covered by the Ministry of the Interior. It leads and coordinates all the international technical cooperation of the Ministry of the Interior, except for issues that are covered by the intelligence services.