“We must not flee Paris” during the Olympic Games, insisted the Paris police prefect, Laurent Nuñez, this Friday morning at the microphone of BFMTV.
The senior official spoke in particular about the organization of law enforcement at the time of this ceremony which will begin in less than six months, assuring that "we will be ready in terms of securing the Games", because "everything is stuck.”
Laurent Nuñez began his interview by applauding Prime Minister Gabriel Attal's decision to retain Amélie Oudéa-Castéra as Minister of Sports, emphasizing "the importance" of keeping "continuity six months before the games".
“We have gained momentum,” he also declared regarding the reinforced security system planned during the competition.
The police chief mentioned a very strong presence of police officers on public roads, with “700 patrols in the metro”, compared to the current 125.
The crack problem will be “solved at the time of the Olympics”
Reinforcements which will serve, according to him, to reduce the feeling of insecurity linked, among other things, to the presence of crack users in Paris metro stations.
If this persistent problem, which has affected the capital for years, is “not resolved by chasing away consumers”, but rather “by improving their medical and social care” according to the prefect, the authorities intend to continue to “disperse them, as we usually do, but to the power of five.”
The police are already taking “resolute actions against traffickers”, which have made it possible to double the number of arrests between 2022 and 2023, going from 285 to 491, welcomed Laurent Nuñez.
“This problem will be resolved at the time of the Games, even before that,” he assured.
Security perimeter, home delivery... The restrictions linked to traffic during these two weeks of the Olympics will be numerous, but not enough to scare Parisians away, according to Laurent Nuñez, who insisted on possible exemptions for the most disabled people by its measurements, like delivery men or seniors who order groceries.
Services specialized in the fight against drones
“On certain Olympic sites, the least we can do is provide traffic perimeters to protect pedestrians.
We are only preventing motorized traffic, it will be possible to travel on foot or by bicycle,” underlined the senior official.
Services specializing in the fight against drones will also be mobilized and will use an even more reinforced system than that “which already worked very well during the Rugby World Cup”, he added.
He also took advantage of this interview to confirm that a policewoman had indeed “been attacked by an individual who tried to enter the Ministry” of the Interior on Thursday evening.