36 quai des Orfèvres

The Direction Régionale de Police Judiciaire de Paris (DRPJ Paris), often called the 36, quai des Orfèvres or simply the 36 by the address of its headquarters, is the division of the Police judiciaire in Paris. Its 2,200 officers investigate about 15,000 crimes and offences a year.

The Police judiciaire, abbreviated PJ, is the criminal investigation division of the Police nationale.

36, quai des Orfèvres is often erroneously believed to be the address of the Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciaire, the national authority of the criminal police, which is actually located at the 11, rue des Saussaies, in the buildings of the Ministry of the Interior.

The PJ is the direct successor of the Sûreté, which was founded in 1812 by Eugène François Vidocq as the criminal investigative bureau of the Paris police. The Sûreté served later as an inspiration for Scotland Yard, the FBI and other departments of criminal investigation throughout the world.

In its modern form, the Parisian PJ was created by a decree by Celestin Hennion, the then préfet de police and father of the elite mobile police units called Brigades du Tigre. Unique for their time, they were created with the support of Georges Clémenceau, who was nicknamed "le tigre" (the Tiger). It explains why the PJ emblem consists of a stylized tiger's head.

The PJ should move to the Batignolles neighborhood, in a new building due to be completed in 2015 and shared with the Tribunal de grande instance, Paris's main tribunal. However, the project has been criticized because of its cost and the historic status of the 36.

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