Internal Security Ministerial statistical Office

The Ministerial Statistical Department for Internal Security (SSMSI) is a service of the Ministry of the Interior and Overseas Territories.

The SSMSI is under the joint leadership of the General Directorate of the National Police (DGPN) and the General Directorate of the National Gendarmerie (DGGN).

It intervenes in the field of internal security and delinquency.

The SSMSI is responsible for producing, disseminating and publishing information, surveys and statistical studies, in particular on the basis of administrative data or statistical surveys. It gathers, analyses and adds value to the statistical data used to define, contextualise, territorialise, drive and evaluate security policies.

It contributes to studying the statistical evolution of the entire criminal process, facts established by court decisions, the execution of sentences and criminal sanctions as well as re-offending.

It also provides the cabinet, general and central directorates of the police and the gendarmerie and local units of these entities with information and statistical analyses that are useful for accomplishing their missions. It does this by providing statistical insight into delinquency and insecurity, their context and the impact of public policies.

The SSMSI is recognised by Eurostat as an ONA (Other National Authority), responsible alongside the INSEE for developing, producing and disseminating European statistics. In addition, the SSMSI participates in the work of international statistical bodies in the field of internal security and delinquency (EU/Expert Group on Policy Needs for Data on Crime, UNODC/ICCS, Praia, Group for Governance Statistics and others).

The SSMSI ensures that monthly and yearly statistical indicators on delinquency known to the police and gendarmerie are produced and disseminated (recordings or declarations of delinquency, reports, and so on), which constitute short-term and local official statistics.

It carries out surveys on official statistics, primarily surveys of the fact of being a victim on the general population. This work specifically measures the number and the characteristics of victims of crimes, thus making it possible to complete the recorded delinquency statistics, as victims of crime do not always report it.

In 2021, the SSMSI conducted the European Gender and Security Survey (Genre et Sécurité, GENESE) in France. With the support of INSEE, the SSMSI came up with an innovative multi-modal protocol (Internet, phone, paper, face-to-face) in the context of the overhaul of the Living Envrionment and Security Survey (Cadre de vie et sécurité). It has conducted the Experiences and Perceptions of Security Survey (Vécu et ressenti en matière de sécurité, VRS) since 2022.

The SSMSI carries out studies aimed at understanding phenomena of delinquency and insecurity, analysing how they evolve and their locations. These studies essentially aim to define, contextualise, territorialise, inform and evaluate public policies in the area of internal security.

The SSMSI shares on the Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletInterstats website all of its output, studies, key figures and open data, which come from reference statistical sources in their area of competence.