PARIS.- The standard was already high, but the security challenge for the Paris Olympic Games increased over the weekend, when a knife attack took place that claimed the life of a tourist near the Torre Eiffel. However, the attack at the hands of a supposed Islamic radical, a somewhat invisible enemy, did not dent the confidence of law enforcement in France.
The attack did not take long to generate concern in the country and abroad about security for the Olympic tournament that begins on July 26, in just over seven months. But law enforcement seems eager to put aside the fear factor and show the world that Paris is prepared on security issues.
“We are trying to make invisible risk visible“, said Bernard Bobrowska, inspector general of the local police of the French capital. “We are ready”.
Police dodged questions from an Associated Press team about possible terrorist attacks after conducting patrols in the Torre Eiffel on Thursday, insisting that all systems will be ready for the Olympic tournament. But the Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, He said after the attack that around a third of the alleged radicals under surveillance suffer from mental problems, like the attacker, who had undergone psychiatric treatment.
Constant surveillance:
Hundreds of agents already patrol the area around the city day and night. Torre Eiffel, which is located a few steps from the Seine River, where the opening ceremony of the Games will take place. This high security zone includes the surrounding sector, where a German-Filipino tourist was murdered Saturday night. The suspect, Arnaud Rajabpour-Miyandoab26, was subdued with two shots from a stun gun after injuring two other people with a hammer.
The former director general of the national police, Frederic Pechenardexpressed his concern about Olympic security after the attack, calling for “an eventual Plan B”, which was flatly rejected by the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. However, he stated that there could be “adjustments.”
Security concerns go beyond France. The government of Netherlands updated its safety recommendations on Friday. “Throughout France, and especially in Paris, be aware of the possibility of new violent attacks“the authorities warned.
Security is at its maximum with a “zero crime” around the Olympic venues, which include the Torre Eiffel and the Sena, according to the authorities.
Recent improvements in France:
Crime, ranging from trinket peddlers to organized crime and terrorism, has decreased by 30% in recent months in the area around the Eiffel Towerwhere police have carried out around 2,500 operations so far this year, Bobrowska said.
“All the risks, including terrorism, have been taken into account,” he declared. District police, riot police, and non-uniformed officers patrol the sector to create a “combination of police of all types at all times”, a deterrent presence ready to go into action, he pointed out. Agents from other European nations, who visit the French capital with some regularity, are planned to reinforce security for the Games.
Source: AP
