French policing tactics are facing intensified scrutiny after serious injuries to teenagers during more than two weeks of nationwide student protests over conditions in the country’s schools.
France’s internal police watchdog, the IGPN, is investigating 24 cases connected to the handling of the demonstrations. Reuters said it separately documented 28 cases in which people were reported injured through police force, including 15 cases already under investigation by the watchdog.
The protests began over concerns including overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages, deteriorating buildings and unequal access to education. They have since developed into a broader confrontation over public-order policing and the government’s response to youth discontent.
Among the cases under investigation is that of a 14-year-old student who suffered a broken jaw and several smashed teeth after being struck by a tear-gas canister in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, northwest of Paris. His family’s lawyer said the projectile was fired towards him at close range.
The local prosecutor’s account said the teenager had kicked an officer following an earlier confrontation. The officer who fired the launcher said he was protecting colleagues. He has been placed under formal investigation on allegations of assault by a public official resulting in permanent disability or disfigurement. The investigation has not reached a final determination of guilt.
In Lens, northern France, a 15-year-old lost a hand in an incident involving a police stun grenade. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez subsequently suspended the use of that weapon during the student demonstrations while investigators establish the circumstances.
Another teenager suffered a potentially permanent eye injury after being struck during unrest in Argenteuil. Prosecutors said police believed he resembled one of two people who had fired fireworks at officers, while his lawyer said he was simply returning home after finding his school closed.
Nuñez has said approximately 200 students have been injured during the unrest, although he argued that police action caused very few of the injuries. Authorities also reported that about 700 police officers had been hurt and that schools, teachers and members of the public had been attacked.
Police have arrested 6,877 people, most of them minors, according to figures reported by Reuters. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has described the demonstrations as the most violent student unrest France has experienced in decades.
Police unions argue that officers require intermediate-force equipment when confronting violent groups. Union representative Thierry Clair told Reuters that removing those options could leave officers with only more dangerous forms of force.
Human-rights advocates and some politicians have called for rubber bullets and explosive crowd-control grenades to be withdrawn. Such weapons have faced repeated criticism from Amnesty International and United Nations experts and are not routinely used for public-order policing in several other European countries.
The official investigations must now determine whether individual officers acted lawfully, proportionately and according to their training. Allegations made by injured students and their lawyers remain subject to those investigations, while police accounts must also be tested against video, medical evidence and witness testimony.
The controversy has added pressure on President Emmanuel Macron’s government before France’s 2027 election. What began as a protest over school resources is increasingly becoming a national debate over policing, youth trust in public institutions and the government’s response to demands for educational reform.
