The whole idea of unarmed cops is laughable. Ridiculous. Absurd.
French police ARE armed.
Of the 261,000 French police, only some of the 18000 municipal police are unarmed. Sadly this brave man was one of them.
BUT literally 93% at least are armed, and well-armed. Given that some municipal police are armed, the % is probably 95%. So almost all French police are armed.