There is nothing accidental about police violence. It is produced rationaly and regulated by a governmental apparatus.

The theory and practices of the French police are deeply rooted in the colonial system. This book shows that in the North African brigades of slums in the period between the World Wars and the anti-crime brigades (BAC) in the modern-day projects, the same mechanisms are at work. The development of non-lethal arms such as flash-balls and tasers also drives a private industry of coercition. Mathieu Rigouste demonstrates how the expansion of an international market in violence still frames the spread of counter-insurrectional doctrines, paving the way for their application within urban areas of the former empire.