A CRIMINAL HISTORY OF MANKIND

Under Fouché, the chief of police in Paris was a certain M. Henry. One day in 1809, he received a
visit from a powerfully-built young man called Eugene-Francois Vidocq, who offered information
about certain criminals in exchange for immunity. Vidocq was totally frank with Henry; his life had
been adventurous, and a hot temper and a love of pretty women had brought him more than his
share of trouble with the law. He had been a smuggler, and had escaped from prison, and even from
the galleys. Now he wanted a quiet life. Henry could see Vidocq felt trapped; but he wanted him to
feel still more trapped, until he would do anything that was asked of him. So M. Henry declined his
offer and allowed him to go.
What Vidocq had not told Henry was that he was now involved with a gang of coiners. They
denounced him to the police, who called when Vidocq was in bed; he was arrested, nearly naked,
on the roof. When M. Henry saw the prisoner, he felt pleased with himself; now Vidocq was well
and truly trapped. Henry was now able to state his own terms. And they were that Vidocq should
become a police spy and betray his associates. It was hard, but Vidocq had no alternative than to
accept. He was taken to the prison of La Force, with the task of spying on his fellow prisoners. It
was dangerous work, but freedom depended on doing it well. He did so well, reporting undetected
crimes to M. Henry, and the whereabouts of stolen goods, that M. Henry decided to give him his
freedom - as a police spy. Vidocq was loaded with chains for transfer to another prison; on the way
he was allowed to escape. It made him the hero of the criminal underworld of Paris. His first task
was to track down a forger named Watrin, who had escaped and totally disappeared. Cautious
enquiries revealed that Watrin had left some possessions in a certain room. Vidocq waited for him
to reappear, captured him after a desperate struggle, and dragged him off to M. Henry. There was a
large reward. Soon after, Watrin was guillotined. So was another forger named Bouhin - the man
who had denounced Vidocq to the police two years earlier. He had been arrested on Vidocq’s
information.
During the next few years, Vidocq showed himself to be the most determined, efficient and
enterprising police agent in Paris. His success aroused intense jealousy in the Police Prefecture, and
his colleagues often denounced him as a man who was really in league with the criminals. M.
Henry knew better; he knew Vidocq was too attached to his new-found security. He also knew that
the rivalry between his men was the greatest threat to the efficiency of the Paris police. Every area
in the city had its local station, and there was little co-operation between them. So when Vidocq
suggested forming a small force of men who could move freely anywhere in the city, Henry
immediately seized upon the idea. Vidocq was allowed four helpers, all chosen by himself -
naturally, he chose criminals. There was fierce opposition from all the local police departments,
who objected to strangers on their ‘patches’, but Henry refused to be moved. Vidocq’s little band
was called the Security - Sureté - and it became the foundation of the French national police force
of today.
In 1833, Vidocq was forced to retire, because a new chief of police objected to a Sureté made up
entirely of criminals and ex-criminals. He immediately became a private detective - the first in the
world - and wrote his Memoirs. He became a close friend of writers, including Balzac, who
modelled his character Vautrin on Vidocq.
For the modern reader, the most astonishing thing about Vidocq’s Memoirs is that the crimes were
so singularly un-vicious. This is not to say that criminals were not perfectly capable of murder;
only that there was a complete absence of the kind of anti-social resentment that distinguishes so
many modern criminals. Burglary or robbery with violence was simply a profession, usually
embraced by people who drank too much and liked to keep more than one mistress. Many robbers