5,000 troopers requisitioned in Paris on the night of the second spherical of legislative elections | EUROtoday

QWhatever the outcomes of the legislative elections, the scenario shall be explosive on the night of the second spherical on Sunday, July 7, significantly in Paris. And, in an unprecedented scenario, 5,000 of the 18,000 troopers deliberate for the safety of the Olympic Games, that are on account of start on July 26, will already be current within the Paris area, with the remaining on account of return to the capital after the July 14 parade.

“The military will not maintain order, it is not their job and it is absolutely out of the question,” the Interior Ministry is assured. “Soldiers will be deployed within the usual framework of prevention and the fight against terrorism, they will not have any mission directly or indirectly linked to maintaining order,” it’s specified on the Paris police headquarters. .

“The temptation would be strong…”

In the occasion of an outbreak of violence on the night of July 7, solely the police shall be on the entrance line. “The soldiers have never maintained order on national territory, this has never been seen,” we insist on the police headquarters. “The job of the police is not to shoot, that of the military is to shoot,” summarizes a military officer. Calling on the army to keep up order is due to this fact not on the agenda.

But “in the event of prolonged riots, after the installation of a new government and as the opening date of the Olympic Games approaches, the temptation would be strong for the political power to resort to to the thousands of soldiers already there, especially if he is in the process of establishing his authority,” provides this officer, extremely positioned within the Olympics system. To an unprecedented scenario, an unprecedented response…

“Police missions” for the army

To add to the complexity of the scenario, greater than 1,500 cell gendarmes, initially assigned to sustaining order in mainland France this summer time, had been despatched to New Caledonia to confront the insurrectional scenario. In addition, many cops and gendarmes shall be on relaxation or on go away throughout the first half of July, their superiors having ordered them to be out there throughout the Olympics. “All these issues of availability of personnel have been anticipated,” says the Ministry of the Interior.

The concern expressed by some army personnel is strengthened by the truth that their mission quickly falls outdoors the same old framework of Vigipirate. Another military officer assures us, for instance, that he should now perform safety missions within the Paris area with out the help of a judicial police officer (OPJ). However, the presence of an OPJ, an skilled police officer or gendarme, is crucial to document offences and crimes. “I have to send my men to carry out a police mission, without police powers,” he regrets. “The patrols are still carried out within the legal framework of Sentinelle, yet the mission is no longer anti-terrorism, it is security on public roads,” he says bitterly.

Superpowers for the police chief

“The Ministry of the Interior is addicted to our presence on the public highway, but the military singularity is not to act as a supplement to the police on national territory,” assures one other officer. For their half, the police are exhausted by years of intense and everlasting solicitation since 2015 with a sequence of assaults, the mobilization of the Yellow Vests and even the Covid disaster.

READ ALSO For streets with out weapons of conflict, what a terrific concept! This summer time shouldn’t be when issues will change in favor of the army. Usually, troopers can assist to prefects who formulate “effects to be obtained”, within the occasion of a disaster or pure catastrophe for instance. It is then as much as the army to decide on the assets they allocate. But given the distinctive nature of the Olympic safety mission, army personnel will be requisitioned throughout the summer time by the police prefect, through the army governor of Paris.

Parallel Ministry of the Interior

In addition to this partial energy over the armed forces, the Paris police prefect additionally has authority from 1^er July to September 15, 2024 on the prefects of the departments of the internal suburbs, usually underneath the unique authority of the Minister of the Interior. And the police prefecture additionally quickly has authority over the regulation of plane and drones, jamming, video surveillance and the missions of personal safety firms.

Enough to additional deserve its nickname of “parallel Ministry of the Interior” throughout the Olympics… and due to this fact additionally throughout the explosive political and social section which is predicted following the legislative elections.