France's interior minister on Tuesday urged the country's elite police forces to end their traditional rivalries following November's jihadist attacks on Paris that claimed 130 lives, reports Yahoo! News.
"The time is over for rivalry among forces, it's time for unity," Bernard Cazeneuve told members of the GIGN paramilitary police, an elite RAID unit of the national police and the BRI anti-gang brigade of the Paris police.
"In the face of enemies who are determined to attack us while causing the most damage possible, with no desire to negotiate and whose own deaths are part of their philosophy and strategy, we need effective forces... working together towards the same goals," Cazeneuve said.
Rivalry among the three forces has been known to complicate operations as well as investigations.
The traditional areas of operation -- gendarmes in rural areas and police in urban centres -- will be waived during serious crises or major attacks, Cazeneuve said.