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To pull off the most daring opening ceremony in Olympic history, the French organizers are now, literally, on the same page.
The French government, the president of the organizing committee for the Paris 2024 Games and the mayor of the French capital signed an 11-page security protocol on Tuesday that for the first time revealed some of the details of the plan to protect the unprecedented July 26 opening ceremony. threats of terrorism, drone attacks and other risks to the crowd and 10,500 athletes.
An important change is that the hundreds of thousands of spectators who will watch the free opening gala, spread over the six-kilometer parade route of the Seine River, will have to register for tickets.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who is responsible for Olympic security, has pushed for the change so that many non-paying spectators can be allocated designated seats on the embankment above the river, separated from the 100,000 other guests who pay for a closer view of the water. .
When faced with the doubts of experts about the size and complexity of the security operation, Darmanin, the president of the organizing committee Tony Estanguet and the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo spoke at a press conference to defend the French decision to use the city center as a place for the extravaganza, ditching the safety of the traditional stadium setting for the first time.
It is a big television promise that everything is going well, showing the beautiful monuments and the Seine that is being cleaned up for Olympic swimming. But the unique logistics and security requirements could backfire spectacularly in front of a global audience for France if a major problem occurs.
“When France organized the Games – the last time 100 years ago – they did it with ambition,” Estanguet said. “It’s a challenge to organize a ceremony in these conditions, but, again, it’s the biggest audience that France will have, the best show. Our responsibility is to create a dream, to show how extraordinary this country is.”
The Paris plan is also huge in other ways:
- The athletes will be paraded from east to west along the river in 91 boats, with another 25 reserved for breakdowns or other needs. There are also about 30 boats for security; the river can be crowded. There will be a trial starting this July. The entire event, including a water parade to the foot of the Eiffel Tower, art and music performances, and an official ceremony with the lighting of the Olympic flame and attended by heads of state is estimated to be about 3 1/2. hour.
- With the planned deployment of 35,000 policemen – swallowing up a large chunk of France’s total of 250,000 – the Paris ceremony will undercut “Operation Golden Orb,” Britain’s massive police operation for the coronation of King Charles III. It mobilized almost 13,000 policemen. London’s police commissioner said it was the biggest security operation undertaken by the Metropolitan Police’s 194-year-old force.
- In general, 30,000 officers will be mobilized on average per day during July 26-August. The 11th Olympics, increased to 45,000 on the busiest day in the Paris region, Darmanin told the senators in October.
Police holidays will be canceled in June, July and early August with “very rare exceptions” and other events requiring the police will be postponed, he said. The minister warned of “an enormous public order problem if, clearly, something goes wrong.”
An acute concern after a series of attacks by the Islamic State group that killed 147 people in and around Paris in 2015 is that the event could become a target for terrorism. Bomb-carrying drones are also a concern. “It’s a very new threat,” Darmanin said.
Risk of spectators falling into the river
There were also concerns about crowd management and whether organizers would be able to hire enough private security guards.
“It is very ambitious and it is true that many experts have expressed their opposition,” said Bertrand Cavallier, former commander of the French national gendarmerie police training center, said in a telephone interview. “The physical configuration is very complex.”
Among other challenges, he cited the risk of spectators falling into the river or falling from the upper embankment of the Seine into the paying crowd below. The security protocol signed Tuesday, however, will have a gap between the spectators and the upper parapet, wide enough for the security and rescue services.
There is also the possibility of protests after persistent and sometimes violent demonstrations this year against pension reforms pushed by President Emmanuel Macron.
“There is a desire to present a beautiful image of France. Indeed, the Seine, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower and others are very exciting. So, behind this is a big publicity campaign to present France. And there is also a political dimension. I am President Macron want to sign the presidency,” said Cavallier. “But there are risks.
“The idea is very seductive,” he added. “Be aware that it will take a lot of work.”
Civil liberties campaigners have also raised concerns that security at the Olympics will erode freedoms. Critics have raised privacy concerns about the video surveillance technology that will be used experimentally, combining cameras with artificial intelligence software to flag potential security risks such as abandoned packages or crowd surges.
Authorities are adding hundreds of surveillance cameras in the area that will host the Olympic event. Critics argue that intrusive and perpetual security is often a toxic legacy of the Olympics.
The police have ramped up. Darmanin has spoken of a campaign of “harassment, cleansing” of crime in the area that is the site of the Olympics.
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