Heard last Tuesday by the Senate, the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, detailed the system that the government intends to put in place for the 2024 Olympic Games, in particular on the day of the opening ceremony scheduled for July 26, 2024.
We are two years away from the 2024 Olympics which will take place in France, but the government is already mobilizing on the security issues of this world sporting event.
It is in this sense that the Minister of the Interior was heard by the Senate last Tuesday, and Gérald Darmanin presented the measures that will be taken to ensure security during the Olympic Games.
Particular attention is paid to the opening ceremony which will take place on the Seine, in Paris. Six hundred thousand spectators are expected on the banks today to attend the festivities.
To ensure the safety of these thousands of people, 35,000 police and gendarmes will be mobilized. And for the duration of the Games, there will be an average of 30,000 law enforcement personnel present each day, 700 public transport patrols as well as 25,000 private sector security personnel.
For its part, the city of Paris also plans to recruit 3,000 private security guards by 2024.
Avoid a security fiasco
For the Minister of the Interior, the first challenge to take up is to avoid the security fiasco that there was at the Stade de France last June in the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool.
We still remember the lack of anticipation and the establishment of enough law enforcement in strategic locations all around the stadium. As a result, monster overflows took place, suddenly spoiling this sporting event which was also intended to be festive.
On the strength of the lessons of this failure, Gérald Darmanin put pressure on the prefects, whom he asked to put in place what he called ” zero crime plans “.
Concretely, one year before the start of the Olympic Games, these zero crime plans will be implemented in the fall of 2023, during the Rugby World Cup which will take place in France. On this occasion, 5,500 operations to fight crime will be carried out, including 3,500 in Île-de-France.
The interministerial crime prevention fund will be exceptionally endowed with 44 million euros in 2024, an amount which would allow the installation of, for example, 15,000 video surveillance cameras.
The Minister of the Interior also specifies that the DGSI, the General Directorate of Internal Security, as well as all the intelligence services will of course be mobilized, given the very high level of threats that will weigh on the scene of the events.
Mr. Darmanin does not rule out canceling or postponing cultural or sporting events such as the Tour de France or festivals throughout the Olympic period.
Consider safety issues yes but @Paris2024 must not take place to the detriment of the culture and the celebration which are the pride of our country, value our territories.
Support for festival organizers so that they take place in the summer of 2024.— Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) October 27, 2022
Thousands on the banks
The opening ceremony of the Games, scheduled on the Seine river which crosses the capital, will mainly consist of a river parade over six kilometers. It will be able to be followed by 600,000 people.
But no question of exceeding this gauge, and no question either that everyone settles where they want; 100,000 paying places are planned on the lower quays of the Seine, and 500,000 people will be able to settle free of charge on the upper quays of the river.
To have control over the number of spectators who will arrive on the high quays, a system of compulsory free ticketing will be set up and the public will be distributed along the Seine. This ticket office will in particular prevent the high platforms from being taken over by an uncontrollable crowd by controlling the flow of spectators.
On opening day, 35,000 police and gendarmes will be mobilized to ensure the safety of the hundreds of thousands of expected spectators. Extraordinary security for an extraordinary event, because never has a ceremony of this magnitude been organized outside a stadium.