In the run-up to the Olympics, France bolsters security plans with more officers and new tools

MARSEILLE, France (CN) — The countdown is on as France prepares to host the Olympic Games this summer. But the run-up hasn't been entirely smooth. While security issues are top of mind for officials, Parisians have been plagued by outrage over social issues, housing and frequent disruptions.

In addition to the 35,000 police officers and army officials patrolling daily, there will be another 18,000 soldiers and over 20,000 security agents in the country during the games. France is also bringing in reinforcements from other European nations.

“There are only four months left and France is seeking help from the police and security forces from Poland and other countries in an 'international coalition' to reinforce its own security forces,” Hall Gardner, a professor and international relations expert at the American University of Paris, told Courthouse News by email.

For the first time ever, the opening ceremony of the games will be held outdoors, on and around Paris' Seine River, with flotillas cruising past monuments and upward of 300,000 spectators crowded around the banks.

The recent terrorist attack in Moscow — which drew comparisons to the 2015 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people, most of whom were in the Bataclan concert hall — has heightened concern. Following the attack, France has gone into high-alert mode.  

“Moscow showed that terrorism is not something that was resolved in the past — it is still relevant, and I believe that we are in the process of developing the extremely important system of the presence of security forces, anti-drone strategies and also crowd control,” Benoît d’Aboville, a former representative of France to NATO and a researcher with the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, told Courthouse News.

“We have taken legal provisions which allow, for example, the identification of suspicious people in crowds, which is not usually authorized in France,” d’Aboville continued. “But we have taken exceptional measures.”

There will be anti-drone systems deployed in Paris and across other cities, like Marseille and Nice, particularly around airports. Last month, France also tested new AI-surveillance technology at a Depeche Mode concert to flag a range of potentially dangerous situations, like crowd surges, attacks or fires.  

The Interior Ministry will screen upward of 1 million people, from volunteers to security agents and the athletes themselves. Anyone close to Olympic infrastructure — which, in these games particularly, will be in proximity to many of the city’s biggest monuments — will also be scrutinized. Out of the 180,000 people evaluated so far, the Ministry has banned 800 “with bad intentions” from involvement with the games.

“As the world witnessed in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, and more recently with the attacks of Islamic State-K in Moscow, a major act of terrorism cannot be excluded,” Gardner said.

While officials tackle strategic concerns, residents are dealing with changes in their daily lives.

On May 8, an estimated 150,000 people will crowd around Marseille’s central Old Port to watch the Olympic torch arrive by sea, kicking off its tour around France. Streets will only be open to pedestrians and there will be two days of concerts and activities as the flame travels to Marseille’s biggest monuments. While most of the games' events will take place in and around Paris, Marseille will later host the sailing competition.

“I’m really excited about the games for two reasons: The first is personal; I love sports and I’m excited that it’ll be here … . It’ll bring some liveliness to the city,” Romain Chartreau, the owner of a boutique near the port, told Courthouse News. “Then, for business it will be good, since any big event brings tourists.”

For Chartreau and other business owners around the port, security isn’t an overriding concern. “I wouldn’t say that nothing will happen because we can never really know for sure, but I’m not too worried beyond that,” he said.

Ali Chourar, who owns a hotel nearby, echoed the same sentiment. He shrugged his shoulders when asked about potential threats, saying that security shouldn’t be an issue.

But not everyone is excited.

There’s a poster pasted along multiple doors on the Rue Jean-Pierre Moustier, a narrow street in the city center: "La flamme à Marseille," it proclaims, referencing the flame.

But the poster doesn’t depict the Olympic torch proudly displayed on the Belem, the three-masted 18^th century ship that will deliver it from Athens. Instead, its flames are drawn flickering out of a bottle like a Molotov cocktail. Sailboats tilt on rough waters inside of it. The text underneath — roughly, “Olympic Games 2024: Neither here nor elsewhere,” — echoes the sentiment of many across France.

Parisians are already coping with the residual effects of the games: Endless construction and disruptions, housing issues and fears of inflation are widespread as the city gears up to host millions of spectators over the course of about two weeks.

“It’s causing quite the inconvenience for everyone and everything,” Liana Le, an analyst based in Paris, told Courthouse News. “There’s constant construction because everyone is trying to get the infrastructure ready … . There’s a general air of unhappiness.”

Lots of people are planning to list their apartments on sites like Airbnb, rent them out for inflated prices and take the opportunity to flee the city. This is causing issues for Paris residents looking for a long-term rental.

“Everyone I know is having the hardest time, because people are saving their apartments for the Olympics to rent out in a city that already has a tight housing market,” Le said. “Everyone I know, including me, is trying to get out.”

There have been a myriad of social issues, with nongovernmental organizations ringing alarm bells over the “social cleansing” of Paris, in which migrants and homeless people have been moved out of the city. Workers unions are still threatening strikes. The recent rumor that French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura would sing at the opening ceremony prompted far-right politicians Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour to denounce the artist, fueling a slew of online hate speech directed at her.

Follow @lilyradz

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit