PARIS (AP) — A year ago, Paris Olympics The capital of France is The safest place in the world Tony Estanguet’s confident prediction is that when the Olympics open this Friday, police forces will patrol the streets of Paris, fighter jets and soldiers will be ready to scramble, Installing security barriers with metal fences It was set up like an iron curtain on both sides of the Seine, the main focus of the opening show.
France is mobilising police and the army on a large scale as the Olympics, from July 26 to August 11, face unprecedented security challenges. The city has repeatedly suffered casualties. Militant attacks And the war has increased international tensions. Ukraine and Gaza.
Rather than building an Olympic park and consolidating venues outside the city centre, as Rio de Janeiro did in 2016 and London did in 2012, Paris chose to hold many events in the vibrant centre of the capital of two million inhabitants and scatter others around the suburbs, where millions more live. It set up temporary sports arenas in public spaces and Opening ceremony along the river Stretching for several kilometers (miles) Seine river, Protection becomes more complex.
The Olympic organizers Concerns about cyber attacksMeanwhile, human rights activists and Olympic critics in Paris AI-powered surveillance technology The scope and scale of Olympic security.
Paris is therefore betting a lot on ensuring the safety of its 10,500 players and millions of visitors. Their objectives are:
Security activities in numbers
Up to 45,000 police and military police will be deployed during the tournament, with a further 10,000 soldiers stationed in the country. Paris’ largest military base For the first time since World War II, soldiers should be able to reach any of the city’s Olympic venues within 30 minutes from here.
Armed soldiers patrolling crowded areas in cars and on foot has become common in France since militants claiming to be from al-Qaida or the Islamic State and suicide bombers began operating in the country. Paris was hit multiple times in 2015They do not have police powers to make arrests, but they can catch assailants and hold them until police arrive. For visitors from countries where armed street patrols are not common, the sight of soldiers with assault rifles may come as a shock, as it initially did for the French.
“At first they were very strange to see us and always avoided and bypassed our presence,” said Gen. Eric Chasbeuf, deputy commander of the counterterrorism force (Sentinel).
“Now it’s in the landscape,” he said.
Rafale fighter jets, airspace surveillance AWACS surveillance flight, A 150km no-fly zone will be put into place around Paris during the opening ceremony, with Reaper surveillance drones, helicopters carrying snipers and drone neutralisation devices on guard. Cameras equipped with artificial intelligence software, permitted under a law expanding the Olympics’ surveillance powers, will be able to spot any abandoned luggage or other objects. Crowd surge,
France are also receiving help In total, at least 1,900 police reinforcements were deployed from more than 40 countries.
Trump assassination attempt highlights risks to Olympics
Attacks by lone perpetrators are a major concern, with French authorities recently Assassination attempt Against Donald Trump.
Some involved in Olympic security expressed consternation that a gunman armed with an AR-type rifle would come within range of the former U.S. president.
“Nobody can guarantee that mistakes won’t be made, but they were quite noticeable there,” said Gen. Philippe Pulquet, who oversaw construction of a temporary camp southeast of Paris to house the Sentinel’s 4,500 soldiers.
In France, in the past 13 months alone, lone men have Tourists in Parisand Children in the park A man living in a town in the Alps Stabbed a teacher The suspect, killed at a high school in northern France in October, was under French security surveillance as a suspected Islamic extremist.
France’s long and bitter experience with deadly extremist attacks has given it a dense network of police units, intelligence services and investigators specialised in counterterrorism, and suspects in terrorism cases can be held for longer periods for questioning.
Hundreds of thousands Background Check The Paris Interior Ministry vetted Olympic ticket holders, Olympic officials and applicants for passes to enter Paris’ most heavily guarded area along the Seine. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the screening resulted in more than 3,900 people being prevented from attending. Some were flagged for suspected Islamic extremism, left- or right-wing political extremism, serious criminal records or other security concerns, he said.
“We are paying particular attention to Russian and Belarusian citizens,” Darmanin added, but avoided linking the exclusion to Russia’s war in Ukraine or Belarus’ role as an ally of Moscow.
Darmanin said 155 people deemed a “high potential terror threat” had also been barred from the opening ceremony and competitions, and police were in some cases searching their homes for weapons and computers.
He said intelligence agencies had not identified any solid terror plots against the Olympics but “we are watching very closely.”
Critics fear intrusive Olympic security will continue after the Games
Digital rights activists worry that the Olympics’ surveillance cameras and AI systems could infringe on privacy and other freedoms, and target homeless people who spend a lot of time in public spaces.
Sacage 2024, a group that has been campaigning against the Paris Olympics for months, criticized the scope of security at the Olympics, describing it as an “oppressive arsenal” in a statement to The Associated Press.
“This is not an isolated exception in France, but rather something that occurs systematically in host countries,” the report said. “Is it reasonable to offer a month of ‘festivals’ to the wealthiest tourists at the cost of leaving a long-lasting security legacy for all residents of a city and an entire country?”
