Elite police in France complain of being used as dog walkers

The 600 officers of the Service de Protection des Hautes Personnalités (SPHP) are selected after gruelling physical and psychological tests and trained to defend politicians against terrorism. They form one of France’s most elite police units — but they are fed up with the missions assigned to them: walking the dog, buying the bread or taking the spouse shopping.

French police unions complain that many are treated as domestic help by the public figures they are supposed to be guarding. They say that SPHP officers are often allocated to minor dignitaries in little danger of attack, under a system that is out of control, with second-string politicians, journalists, business leaders and footballers all benefiting from police minders financed by French taxpayers.



Critics say that the mission creep is symptomatic of President Sarkozy’s struggle to bring a sprawling state apparatus to heel at a time when he needs to devote public money to the fight against recession.

The row has prompted an overhaul of the VIP protection unit, which is likely to mean a cut in the number of people given police guards by the Interior Ministry. Officers will be transferred to the Presidential Security Unit, whose 80 members claim to be exhausted by the demands of round-the-clock protection for Mr Sarkozy.