French police checked IDs on 'massive' scale in 2021, no strategy defined -report says

FILE PHOTO: Members of the French riot police take part in a training exercise to handle violent demonstrations, in Ris-Orangis, south of Paris, as the 'Yellow Vests' and anti health pass protests continue in France, August 30, 2021. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

PARIS (Reuters) -French police conducted identity checks on a "massive" scale in 2021, despite not having a doctrine to define their objectives or good practice during such checks, France's public audit office, the Cour des comptes, said in a report on Wednesday.

The report detailed for the first time the number of ID checks carried out annually by police - 47 million in 2021 - a number that the president of the Cour des Comptes Pierre Moscovici described as "massive". This number has been stable since 2018, the report said.