Grenades, light shield, defensive bullet launcher (LBD), tear gas... To manage, or even repress, a crowd or a demonstration, French law enforcement has a varied arsenal of so-called “intermediate” weapons which support their tactics.
Equipment which makes the gendarmerie a “showcase of French know-how in matters of public order”, notes the government website which specifies that many foreign security forces (around thirty countries in 2019) come each year “to benefit from the expertise of French instructors”. Weapons designed within the framework of the French doctrine of maintaining order which advocates a graduated response and keeping demonstrators at a distance in order to avoid any physical contact, reserved for mobile units (Brav-M, Bac) which will dive to carry out arrests.
The fact remains that these weapons are regularly criticized for the mutilations they can cause, from blinded yellow vests to a recent Lens high school student whose hand was torn off, without forgetting the death of Rémi Fraisse, killed in 2014 in Sivens by an offensive grenade, since withdrawn from weapons. Also, the Minister of the Interior Laurent Nunez announced that he would suspend the use of stun grenades as part of the high school movement. The opportunity to take stock of so-called “intermediate” weapons, massively used in the field of social struggles.
Flash-ball and LBD (Defense Ball Launcher)
Appearing during the 1990s after its development by the French industrialist Verney-Carron, flash balls, which first equipped BAC police officers, have since evolved, gained in precision and been extended to maintaining law and order.
Today, it is the LBD 40 manufactured by the French company Alsetex, which mainly equips police officers and gendarmes. According to the manufacturer's technical sheet posted online by the specialized site maintenancedelordre.fr, these reduced-lethality weapons fire 40 mm hard rubber bullets at nearly 350 km/h. Due to this power, its use is in principle prohibited within 10 meters of the target and the user must not aim at the head or thorax of the target. Principle undermined by the poor precision of the weapon (around 14 cm at 25 m).
Water cannons
Very effective in keeping a crowd at bay and encouraging demonstrators to return home once they are soaked, water cannons are the prerogative of the CRS, which reportedly has 16 units in mainland France. “The gendarmerie is not considering the acquisition of water cannons, despite their undeniable tactical added value, to favor the use of National Police machines”, regretted in 2020 a gendarme author of a note on “The tools of maintaining order”.
EF-SON, GL-304, GENL grenades…
Tear gas, deafening or so-called de-encirclement grenades, named EF-SON, GL-304, GENL, or even GM2L, French law enforcement have a wide range of grenades adapted to different situations. The most used are those diffusing CS gas, commonly called tear gas. Of different charges and types, they can be thrown by hand, or fired from a launcher before falling in a shower of small pebbles diffusing gas over a wide area.
Next come the so-called de-encirclement grenades, technically called non-lethal fragment grenade (GENL) by its manufacturer Alsetex. They explode with around fifteen small rubber projectiles and must be thrown rolling on the ground. A condition of use also imposed on stun grenades, which produce a light flash and a deafening sound effect of around 160 decibels at 10 meters. There are several types, including the so-called ASSD, recently suspended by the Minister of the Interior.
There are also mixed models, combining deafening effect and diffusion of CS gas, such as the GM2L grenade or the GL-304 (made in Brazil).
The light shield
