L'œil et la mémoire: Réflexions sur les compétences et les savoirs policiers à la fin du XVIIIe siècle, d'après les «papiers» du lieutenant général Lenoir

Abstract

Written between 1790 and 1806, the «papers» of senior police officer Lenoir constitute a comprehensive survey about Parisian police on the eve of the French Revolution. This unpublished document expresses what the police would have found acceptable to bring to the population's attention, what they could have revealed of their practical experiences, of their organization and of the way they collected information in order to act better. The Parisian police knowledge can be seen from three angles. It first takes part in the construction of a «State memory» that the police want to be easily usable thanks to the systematic production of lists and registers. The police knowledge then defines itself as having to be the most «complete» it can possibly be, therefore they wish to put both a registration of the population into general use and to be aided in the gathering of this information by numerous «auxiliaries». Ultimately the police need to know what they are doing. Their «members» are professionals who acquire skills and experience and who adopt some procedures to avoid an arbitrary approach. This knowledge production is useful and necessary to the functioning of police structures and to their action on the body of the population and depends more and more on the «technical skills» control, the foundation of a new professional identity and of an increased legitimacy towards the population.