France’s National Police is recruiting 20 “policiers adjoints” — assistant police officers — in the Eure department in Normandy, aiming to draw at least 80 applications from local young adults.
The agency says candidates must be between 18 and 30, in good physical condition, and have no criminal record. Local leaders want to recruit from within Eure rather than bringing in applicants from outside the area.
The assistant officer role is positioned as a front door into France’s National Police. It is a paid public-law contract — not an internship and not the competitive civil-service exam used to hire full career officers — and it places recruits in operational assignments alongside tenured officers, including patrols, security duties, and front-desk public reception.
20 openings — and police hope for at least 80 applications
To fill 20 jobs, the department’s police leadership is counting on a pool of at least 80 candidates, a selection ratio of roughly one hire for every four applicants. That target implies an active outreach campaign aimed at young people across the department.
Officials are leaning hard on local ties: an assistant officer recruited in Eure will be assigned in Eure, which the agency presents as a selling point for applicants who want to stay close to home.
Applications are reviewed by a commission under the standard process used for certain public-sector hires that do not rely on a competitive exam. Recruitment notices spell out eligibility requirements, filing deadlines, and how to apply — online or by mail.
A contract role — not the standard police exam
Assistant officers are not tenured civil servants. They are hired on a fixed-term contract that can be renewed. At the end of the contract period, a commission evaluates the candidate’s professional aptitude.
If that assessment is deemed sufficient, the person can be granted tenured status, provided they obtain any diploma or credential required to enter the relevant job category, if applicable.
For 18- to 30-year-olds without specific qualifications, the program is presented as a concrete pathway into the French national civil service, with training provided during the contract.
Eure is betting on local recruitment
The geographic focus is deliberate. In several Normandy departments, recruitment challenges in law enforcement have pushed leaders to broaden outreach beyond their usual footprint. In Eure, the strategy runs the other direction: find candidates locally, on the assumption that someone from the area knows its neighborhoods and towns — and may be easier to retain long-term.
The use of assistant officers in Eure is part of a national effort to reinforce street-level staffing. This type of hiring has been used in areas where tenured staffing levels struggle to cover operational needs.
How to apply
Recruitment postings are published at least one month before the application deadline, including on France Travail, the country’s public employment platform. Applicants can submit materials online or by mail, depending on the instructions in the recruitment notice. A commission then reviews the files.
The 20 openings are open to a range of profiles, with no specific diploma required at entry — making it one of the relatively rare public-sector jobs in France accessible starting at 18 without prior qualifications, as long as applicants meet the physical and character requirements.
