On July 26, there will be a massive police operation involving over 90 boats on the Seine for a distance of six kilometers.
In anticipation of the opening ceremony of the Olympics later this month, French river police conducted training on Tuesday on the Parisian river. For six kilometers, over ninety boats carrying about 10,000 athletes will parade along the Seine. Paris and its most famous sites will be turned into a massive stage for the roughly four-hour-long outdoor ceremony, which will take place during sunset.
It is planned to be a big police operation. The Paris River police’s Head of Department, Sophie Malherbe, stated, “We will have several boats involved with other police units from outside the Prefecture of Police.” “This will involve securing the fleet during the parade, as well as securing the Seine river bank,” she continued.
Paris’ police chief Laurent Nunez has announced plans to deploy around 30,000 police officers each day, including armed police, with a peak of 45,000 for the opening ceremony on the river Seine.
The police will be supported by the military, with about 18,000 members of the army involved during the competition.
French river police practice on the Seine before the Olympic opening ceremony.
About 220,000 invited and security-screened spectators are expected to fill the upper tiers of the river’s banks, and another 100,000 paying spectators will watch from the lower riverside and around the Trocadéro plaza.