[3] The Service de Protection des Hautes Personnalités includes:[1] The SPHP was established in 1934 under the name of "Official Travel Service" ("Voyages officiels" (VO) in French) after the assassination of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and Louis Barthou in Marseilles.

[4] The SPHP was headed by Inspector General Jean-Louis Fiamenghi, who assumed the post in November 2007.

Inspector General Fiamenghi had been head of Recherche Assistance Intervention Dissuasion (RAID), another unit within the National Police.

In June 2010, a report by the Cour des comptes mentioned, among the persons enjoying SPHP protection, former prime ministers Dominique de Villepin and Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the former ministers of the interior Pierre Joxe, Jean-Pierre Chevènement and Charles Pasqua, wives of former presidents Danielle Mitterrand and Bernadette Chirac, the former candidates for the 2007 presidential election François Bayrou and Ségolène Royal, the former hostage and parliamentarian Ingrid Betancourt, the former minister Michel Charasse, and the president of MEDEF Laurence Parisot.

[6] In addition to an extensive fleet, SDLP members are armed with the following weapons:[citation needed]