The atonement journey: The word criminal became a super detective in France

From a criminal, this man joined the police team and became one of France's heroes.

Eugène François Vidocq is a strange person, he came from a gentle family but chose to mature as a criminal and end his life as a hero of France .

From the notorious criminal .

Vidocq was born on 24/7/1775 in Arras, is the third son of a gentle pastor. But quite different from the father, Vidocq has rebellious personality, or reason, quarrel, confusing friends, especially enjoyed fighting martial arts so many people called him noisy Vidocq.

When he was 14, Vidocq stole his parents' money and fled abroad. He went everywhere, and then the criminals forced to join a Gypsy circus. Here, Vidocq has to work very hard, beating and starving.

But with his sly nature, he poisoned his captives and returned to his parents. Shortly afterwards, the adventurous blood made Vidocq do a floating job to join the Bourbon Regiment at an immature age.

His parents were worried, fearing that Vidocq would be bullied by his seniors, but on the contrary, only 6 months in the army, this "immature" soldier won the regiment's best 15 swords. Vidocq was quickly promoted.

When not in battle, Vidocq continues to engage in fencing. On one occasion, he challenged a high-ranking officer, but was rejected. Too angry because he thought his opponent despised, Vidocq immediately punched the officer in the face. At that time, in the French army there was a rule, superior attack was synonymous with death sentence. Fearing to go to the army court with the highest sentence, Vidocq defected and found his way to his home town of Arras.

When I arrived at Arras, Vidocq was 18 years old. With a large appearance and a reputation in the region for bravery, sword fighting ability, many women want to be his wife, including Louise, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Soon after, Vidocq and Louise's wedding took place at the church in Arras.

Sadly, in an early return home, Vidocq caught his wife's affair with an officer in the area. After giving them a fatal blow, he decided to go on an adventure again.

Documents related to the 8-year sentence of Vidocq's hard labor

In March 1795, Vidocq was arrested and imprisoned in Paris for using false papers. Due to fear of sitting in prison for a long time, Vidocq tried to escape. But when he successfully escaped from prison, Vidocq or believed the prison guards were punished for his defection.

Feeling guilty, Vidocq returned to the animal head to help the prison guards. The Court decided to fine Vidocq 8 years of hard labor at the quarry. Here again, Vidocq escaped and fled to the Netherlands, joining the infamous Fromentin pirate army, attacking government boats and sharing it with the poor. Unfortunately, when Ostend arrived, bandits were ambushed, all crew were arrested and detained at Toulon Prison.

Toulon prison was called the impregnable fortress, but only a few months Vidocq successfully escaped. As such, Vidocq runs everywhere and becomes the top target of police. It was not until 34 years old that Vidocq escaped the criminal path.

In May 1809, he went to see Henry in charge of the Crime Department in Paris expressing his wish to become a good person. Vidocq wishes to work with police to destroy dangerous criminal organizations.

Prosecutor Henry was impressed with Vidocq's achievements and his talent and bravery so he accepted Vidocq as an employee under him. Both signed an agreement, every crime of Vidocq will know completely lost if it can help the police break the hard case.

. to an exemplary cop .

Vidocq's first task was to disguise as a prisoner to gather information in La Force prison. After 20 months, the information that Vidocq brought to help Paris police destroy many serious cases. Many criminal gangs have been destroyed by police forces. After much deliberation, Henry and superior prosecutors decided to bring Vidocq out.

La Force prison image

Soon after, Vidocq pretended to escape from La Force and mixed into an organization specializing in trafficking and trafficking. Here, Vidocq collected a lot of important information to summarize Watrin - the notorious fake money maker. After closing, he bravely took himself to lure a notorious assassin organization to face.

Vidocq's courage made Henry very moved. The venerable prosecutor decided to remove all charges and granted Vidocq a position. In addition, former criminals were given the privilege of recruiting more employees to serve the investigation.

From here, a new force was formed, police officers brought ordinary clothes under the direction of Vidocq. Instead of recruiting young students from the police academy, he recruited those who were criminals.

A criminal arrest due to Vidocq's indication

Vidocq has a very humanistic philosophy, those who have mistakenly missed the opportunity will surely be a good person for society. With these special employees, Vidocq has caught countless criminals.

From here, the criminal inspector is very loved by the people. The Parisians called him an assassin of the city's criminals and heroes. By 1817, Vidoq's task force had captured nearly 900 dangerous criminals.

Private detective first

Prosecutor Henry retired in 1820, many members of the police department for jealous of his achievements should have released information about the past sin. Too depressed, in 1827, Vidocq asked for his resignation at the age of 52. When he was no longer busy with state affairs, Vidocq plunged himself into the business. In 1832, Vidocq opened the world's first private detective company.

The company is very expensive, specializing in investigating and solving fraudulent criminals. The most famous is the arrest of Champiax - a notorious scammer in Paris. He had cheated money from a series of shops and used camouflage to hide. But Champiax's skill is only a "cat game" with Vidocq, he quickly catches him and finds a place to hide fraudulent money.

However, when Champiax cried and pleaded, Vidocq relented to release him. Unexpectedly, the scammer ran to the police station to accuse Vidocq of plundering property. The police department for jealous of his reputation did not investigate but immediately arrested Vidocq. During his detention, Vidocq was treated badly. He was beaten, starved and lived in a dark, humid cell.

Portrait Vidocq of artist Achille Devéria

At the trial, although there were dozens of witnesses against the false statement of Champaix but before the pressure of the police department, the court sentenced Vidocq to 5 years in prison.

Enraged, the people of Paris held demonstrations everywhere, many newspapers exposed the wrongs of the Paris police department. Shortly after, another trial was reopened and here Vidocq was declared innocent.

The idea of ​​this event will make Vidocq fear the fight with criminals. But no, he continued to take part in supporting the police he was looking for criminals, becoming a French secret agent despite his nearly 80 years of age. officially renounced his work of protecting justice.