The Minister of Sports and Olympics, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, postponed to “early 2024” the question of possible use of the French army in support of securing the Paris Olympics during a hearing Wednesday in the Senate on the bugdet 2024. “We are progressing well (…), the question of resorting to the army not arising for the moment, I have said it several times, it is not taboo today, we are at least until the beginning of 2024 in an approach consisting of prioritizing all the efforts we have to make in the field of private security,” she said in the Senate.
For two years, the question of private security has been put on the table both by the organizing committee (Cojo) and the State, which fear in the face of a sector in difficulty of not being able to bring together enough security agents . It takes between 17,000 and 22,000 for Cojo alone, not counting the fans zone. Several government sources had spoken to AFP in recent months about “autumn” to resolve the question of resorting to the army. The Court of Auditors also insisted on the need to anticipate and decide in October. An “anticipation” also called for in April 2023 by the Chief of Staff, General Thierry Burkhard, during a hearing in the Assembly.
“On this issue, we need to continue our effort so that we can train even more people in these private security professions,” said the minister. Specific training for the Olympics has been put in place to attract candidates and Pôle emploi is mobilized to approach candidates or former security agents who have left this sector with high turnover. “We need to further accelerate the matching between the Cojo contracts awarded to a certain number of private security companies and the people we train and recruit,” she added.
A third wave of calls for tenders has been completed and a fourth wave of “ten lots” will be launched, we learned on Wednesday from the organizing committee, including lots for securing the unique opening ceremony on the Seine. “We are online and we will finish the contractualization phase at the beginning of 2024,” says Cojo. Large companies in the sector have shunned these calls for tenders. “The major problem remains sourcing. The effects of the actions implemented by those involved in employment and integration, first and foremost Pôle emploi, are perceptible but at an insufficient level at this stage to reach the target of 20,000 people entering training by May 2024,” noted a document annexed to the 2024 budget.
