french police are a part of the french military, in a colonial context like this they are 100% an army of occupation
Gendarmes are the police branch of the military (they’re mostly present in rural areas and in elite teams like GIGN), we also have Police Nationale which is your standard popo and the Police Municipale which is local police for towns and city centers.
One thing I’ve learned as a non-French francophone: whatever you think is going on with the relations between Paris and overseas France, it’s about 100x more complicated than you think.
Generally these populations want (and in the case of Nouvelle Calédonie I believe have regularly and recently reaffirmed via referendum) to remain part of France. However, the socio-political situation of each of these overseas territories is unique, complex, and often tense and dividing even for the locals.
For complete strangers to pass a harsh judgement such as “imperialist pigs” based on this article alone would be an ironic form of imperialism/paternalism. If the democratically-elected local government asks for national help, then I would very (!) cautiously agree that it makes sense that they would receive this help.
