In Abidjan, as well as in many cities around the world, the pressure of insecurity is a permanent feature, with complex and diffuse manifestations. Managing it with a view to establishing a secure order, which is essential for human development and business growth, has become a challenge for local authorities, particularly those in Côte d'Ivoire. These municipalities, which have administrative and judicial policing powers as part of the powers transferred to them by the government, are trying to place their intervention within a regulatory framework, taking advantage of a legislative framework defined by the government. In this context, this article attempts to decipher the actions taken by local authorities to make their communities safer, and to highlight the actions covered by municipal laws and focused more on the issue of personal and property safety. The data used, mainly based on literature review, consists of municipal decrees collected in the 13 communes of Abidjan District, and the laws organizing the local authorities and defining their powers in this sensitive area. Activity reports, interviews at city halls and field observations complete the database used here. On the basis of these data, the article first analyses the importance of the issue of security within the range of prerogatives of municipalities. It reveals the nature of the daily safety problems to be solved and their social and spatial implications. It discusses the limits of regulation as an instrument for managing security in the daily life of local authorities. It examines the conditions under which the municipal police implement the laws and the relationship between citizens and these local police forces.