Olympics a 'huge challenge' for France's security agencies

A carefree stroll along the Seine on a warm summer evening or a saunter over to the Eiffel Tower will hardly be possible during the Olympic Games in Paris. New security measures simply won't allow it.

The city will be divided into districts — visitors and even residents will need QR codes to pass through police barriers. Traffic will be severely restricted and subway stations will be closed. Any resident receiving visitors in the restricted areas will probably have to have them registered.

"Some of the measures are extremely unpopular, which is why many Parisians are not at all happy that the Games are taking place in their city," Mathieu Zagrodzki, a lecturer on internal security at the University of Versailles, told DW.

At the same time, he described the task ahead of security agencies in the French capital as a "huge challenge."

Now, those security agencies are using social media to try to get residents mentally prepared for the restrictions and large-scale, artificial-intelligence-supported video surveillance that will be coming their way next summer.

However, despite the extreme security precautions, Sylvia Schenk believes it will be possible to enjoy a carefree Games. The former track-and-field athlete has attended several Summer Olympics as an official, and was an athlete at the 1972 Games in Munich when Israeli athletes were victims of a terrorist attack. Schenk does not expect anything like that to happen in Paris.

"The French security forces should be able to prevent [something like] that," she told DW. "That was a targeted attack on the Israeli team at the Games, not terrorism directed against specators or others."

However, Schenk isn't without her concerns. The conflict in the Middle East, she noted, has led to "terrorism threat levels being raised in almost every country."

France no stranger to terror attacks

Even without the Olympics, France has often been the target of terrorist attacks in recent years, the biggest having come in Paris in 2015 and Nice a year later. Early this December, a German tourist was killed in a suspected Islamist-motivated attack near the Eiffel Tower in which the assailant injured two more victims with a hammer. The attack provided fresh impetus to the security debate surrounding the Olympics.

The main focus will be on the spectacular opening ceremony. For the first time in history, it will not take place in a stadium. Instead, athletes will travel down the Seine by boat, across the French metropolis between the Pont d'Austerlitz and the Pont d'Iena bridges — a distance of about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) — with more than half a million spectators expected to line the banks.

"There will be 40,000 police officers and around 20,000 private security personnel on duty. Plus support from the military," said Zagrodzki.

French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera has rejected calls from critics who argue that the Olympics should be postponed.

"We don't have a plan B, we have a plan A in which there are several B plans," she said in a recent radio interview.

One option, depending on the threat level, could be to reduce the number of spectators.

How will French police handle Games?

Zagrodzki sees the Olympics as an opportunity for the French security forces to spruce up their battered reputation.

"France doesn't have the most positive image when it comes to the smooth running of sporting events," he said.

Police misconduct surrounding the 2022 Champions League final at the Stade de France has made an impact.

"The problem is that the French police have so far viewed large groups of fans, especially in sport, not as guests to be managed and escorted, but as a threat," said Zagrodzki, arguing that communication between the emergency services needs to improve significantly.

"The international observers will pay close attention to how this is handled."

Undeterred by security concerns, Schenk, a lawyer by profession, will be among them.

"I have a ticket for the Games and will therefore be traveling to Paris. We cannot let the threat of terrorism take away our freedom," she stressed.

Zagrodzki believes many Parisians will see things differently, particularly in view of the reported 10 million visitors expected to flood into the French capital — coupled with the planned security restrictions.

"I'm hearing people say: 'It's going to be hell!'" he said.

"Many are hoping to rent out their apartments at a high price and travel until the Olympics are over."

This article was originally written in German.

Edited by: Jonathan Harding