considering it to be an “excellent measure which makes it possible to enforce sentences while maintaining social integration”. 3. Absence of progress ascertained with regard to certain issues about which continual recommendations have been made Alongside the positive changes described above, the annual report for 2012 also provides the occasion for recalling difficulties in changing the practices of the administration with regard to certain issues. The following subjects are among those marked by a certain opposition to change and deadlocks of various natures, to the detriment, when all is said and done, of persons deprived of liberty. 3.1 Confiscation of the brassieres of women placed in police custody Since his annual report for 2008, a constant concern for the Contrôleur général has been to raise the issue of the systematic way in which certain personal items are taken away in the course of police custody, a confiscation which he considers out of proportion to the risks incurred (suicide or assault on staff) and contrary to the dignity of persons placed in police custody. The annual report for the year 2009 emphasised the absence of directives likely to lead to positive change in this regard. The Act of 14th July 2011 concerning police custody (article 10) and the order (arrêté) of 1st June 2011 marked positive changes in current standards and might have been expected to change practices among the personnel in charge of the implementation of police custody. However, this was not the case, notably with regard to brassieres: throughout the year 2012, the inspectors ascertained that they often continue to be confiscated in a systematic manner, regardless of the current texts. The observations made by the inspectors on the ground contrast with the replies that the authorities concerned184 nevertheless gave to the findings sent to them after inspections. Indeed, the general inspectorate of the gendarmerie cites a GEND/OE/SDPJ/PJ [gendarmerie, law enforcement and criminal investigation departments] note of 24 th June 2011, instituting the implementation of security measures that are divided into three different levels, making it possible to ensure that measures taken are proportionate to the case and guaranteeing the dignity of persons in police custody. According to the general inspectorate this note had made it possible to ensure gendarmes’ “discernment” with regard to the question of brassieres, which were apparently no longer confiscated in a systematic manner since its dissemination. Similarly, the replies of the director general of the French national police force mention a memorandum (no. 94) of 15th June 2011 from the Director of the Central Department of Public Security (directeur central de la sécurité publique) whose implementation also made it possible to make security measures proportionate to the dangerousness of the items concerned and had apparently brought the systematic confiscation of bras to an end. Although the Contrôleur général is pleased to note the existence of these instructions and memoranda, he nevertheless wishes to emphasise that they alone cannot guarantee any change in 184 The General Inspectorate of the National Gendarmerie and the Director General of the French national police force. 85