With AI, jets and police squadrons, Paris secures the Olympic Games – and worries critics

PARIS (AP) — A year ago, the head of the Olympic Games in Paris boldly declared that the capital of France “ the safest place in the world ” when the games begin this Friday. Tony Estanguet’s optimistic prediction now seems less far-fetched, as squadrons of police patrol the streets of Paris, fighter jets and soldiers are ready for action and Erection of security barriers made of metal fences The opera, built like an Iron Curtain on both sides of the Seine, will play the main role in the opening show.

The massive deployment of police and military in France is mainly due to the fact that the Games from July 26 to August 11 are associated with unprecedented security challenges. The city has repeatedly witnessed deadly extremist attacks and international tensions are high because of the wars in Ukraine And Gaza.

Rather than building an Olympic Park with venues outside the city centre, like Rio de Janeiro in 2016 or London in 2012, Paris has chosen to host many of the events in the heart of the bustling capital of 2 million people, while others are scattered in suburbs with millions more residents. The construction of temporary sports arenas in public spaces and the unprecedented decision to an opening ceremony on the river stretches for kilometers (miles) along the Seine, makes their protection more complex.

The Olympic organizers also have Concerns about cyber attackswhile human rights activists and game critics are concerned about the use of AI-powered surveillance technology and the large scope and extent of Olympic security.

In short, Paris has a lot at stake to ensure the safety of 10,500 athletes and millions of visitors, and this is how the city intends to achieve this.

The security operation in numbers

A force of up to 45,000 policemen and gendarmes deployed during the games will also be supported by a 10,000-strong military contingent, which the largest military camp in Paris From there, soldiers would be able to reach all of the city’s Olympic stadiums within 30 minutes.

Armed military patrols in vehicles and on foot have become common in busy places in France since gunmen and suicide bombers began acting on behalf of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. Paris 2015 hit again. They do not have police arrest powers, but can detain attackers and hold them until police arrive. For visitors from countries where armed street patrols are not the norm, the sight of soldiers carrying assault rifles could be disturbing, as it initially was for people in France.

“At first, it was very strange for them to see us and they always avoided our presence and took a detour,” said General Éric Chasboeuf, deputy commander of the military anti-terrorist force Sentinelle.

“Now it’s in the landscape,” he said.

Rafale fighter jets, air traffic control AWACS surveillance flights, Reaper surveillance drones, helicopters with snipers and drone-disabling equipment will monitor the skies over Paris, which will be closed off by a 150-kilometer no-fly zone around the capital during the opening ceremony. Cameras coupled with artificial intelligence – authorized by a law expanding the state’s surveillance powers for the Games – will spot potential security risks such as abandoned packages or crowd,

France also gets help from more than 40 countries, which have sent a total of at least 1,900 police officers to provide reinforcements.

Assassination attempt on Trump sheds light on Olympic risks

Lone-person attacks are a major problem, a risk that the French authorities have only recently become aware of through the assassination against Donald Trump.

Some involved in the security operation at the Olympics were stunned that the shooter, armed with an AR rifle, came within firing range of the former U.S. president.

“Nobody can guarantee that there will be no mistakes. But here the mistakes were quite obvious,” said General Philippe Pourqué, who oversaw the construction of a makeshift camp southeast of Paris to house 4,500 Sentinelle troops.

In France alone, in the last 13 months, men acting alone have carried out knife attacks aimed at Tourists in ParisAnd Children in a park in an Alpine town, among others. A man who stabbed a teacher The man who died at his former high school in northern France in October was under surveillance by the French security service on suspicion of Islamic radicalization.

France has long and bitter experience with deadly extremist attacks and has therefore built up a dense network of police units, intelligence services and investigators specialised in counterterrorism. In terrorism cases, suspects can be detained for longer periods for questioning.

Hundreds of thousands of Background checks Authorities have been checking Olympic ticket holders, staff and others involved in the Games, as well as applicants for passes in Paris’ most tightly controlled security zone along the Seine. The checks have prevented more than 3,900 people from entering, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. He said some were flagged on suspicion of Islamic radicalization, left-wing or right-wing political extremism, significant criminal records and other security concerns.

“We pay special attention to Russian and Belarusian citizens,” Darmanin added, although he did not link the exceptions to Russia’s war in Ukraine and Belarus’ role as Moscow’s ally.

Darmanin said 155 people considered “very dangerous” potential terror threats were also being kept away from the opening ceremony and the Games, and in some cases police had searched their homes for weapons and computers.

He said intelligence agencies had not identified any proven terrorist attacks on the games, “but we are extremely vigilant.”

Critics fear Olympic security measures will remain intrusive even after the Games

Digital rights activists fear that surveillance cameras and AI systems at the Olympics could undermine privacy and other freedoms and target homeless people who spend a lot of time in public spaces.

Saccage 2024, a group that has been fighting the Paris Games for months, took aim at the scope of Olympic security in a statement to the Associated Press, calling it a “repressive arsenal.”

“And this is not a French exception, quite the opposite, but a systematic phenomenon in the host countries,” they say. “Is it reasonable to offer a month of ‘festivities’ to the wealthiest tourists at the expense of a long-term securitization of all the inhabitants of the city and the country?”