PARIS
There is a great deal of security anxiety two years out from Paris hosting the Summer Olympics, which has been made worse by the horrifying spectacle of the disorderly scenes at the Champions League final at the Stade de France.
According to a damning fact-finding mission by two French senators, the organisers were to blame for the police tear-gassing angry Liverpool fans, including children and the disabled.Paris
Co-chair of the inquiry Laurent Lafon stated, “These dysfunctions were at every level, not only during the implementation but also during advance preparations.”Paris
The disaster raised red flags, especially for those dealing with security concerns surrounding the Olympics and the Rugby World Cup that will be held in France the following year.
A security source hoped that this would serve as a wake-up call for everyone.
The anxiety over security at the Olympics prompted Gerald Darmanin, the French Interior Minister, to lay out a detailed plan for Laurent Nunez, the new head of the Paris police department, who has taken Didier Lallement’s place.
During Nunez’s swearing-in ceremony, Darmanin said, “You will be the prefect of police in charge of the Olympics, and the entire police prefecture must be geared towards that.”
They would “stick to them like a plaster up to the Olympic Games,” a government source predicted after the disastrous sequence of events at the Champions League final.
There was already a lot of concern about the massive security operation at the Olympics with 13 million expected visitors and 15,000 athletes competing.
The Opening Ceremony on the Seine on July 26 has been a major security headache for the organising committee for months.
The ceremony looks stunning on paper, with teams travelling down the Seine through the centre of the City of Light in about 180 boats.
An estimated 600,000 people will watch the spectacle from the banks, half of them for free.
Undoubtedly spectacular, not least for the viewers of international television, but a major security headache.
The government source declared, “We are absolutely not prepared.”
“We don’t know how we’ll deal with it if a drone drops grenades on the crowds below.”
Fears of a drone attack are not new. There have previously been concerns that events such as marches could be targeted.
“The magnitude of the crowds spread out over six kilometres of the Seine banks is the issue,” the source added.
This is exacerbated by a conflict between the organising committee and the police.
The former wants spectators to line the entire route, while the latter wants everyone who attends to be given a ticket and placed in enclosures along the river.
Paris-2024 source.
“This is a clash of two opposing philosophies,” according to a Paris-2024 source.
The biggest issue for the police in providing security for the ceremony is a lack of available officers.
According to a police source, it would take “nearly 7,000 officers,” which in the height of summer is nearly impossible.
The gap in numbers cannot be filled by private security guards, who have fallen short of the 24,000 required for the Games.
“We don’t have the numbers,” Bernard Thibault, a member of the organising committee, told in mid-April.
The lack of private security personnel is reminiscent of London in 2012 and Tokyo last year, when both host cities were forced to rely on the military. In both cases, operations went off without a hitch.
“It’s simple,” a high-ranking police official said.
“The 24,000 agents needed for the Games do not exist and will never exist.”
“The army will be called in to help.”
The authorities have also prioritised cyber-attack prevention, with the Olympics serving as a high-profile target for years.
According to a source close to the organisers, several hundred French Interior Ministry cyber-investigators will be on the lookout for potential attacks.
As promised in the 2018 Olympic Law, an Olympic intelligence centre has also been established to combat any threat of an attack.
Despite these measures, a high-ranking police officer believes there should be a greater sense of urgency.
“Clearly, there are still holes in the racquet for the time being. So we’d better put on our skates.”
