Europe 1 with AFP 6:53 p.m., December 30, 2022
The Interior Ministry and the Paris police headquarters have indicated that around 90,000 police and gendarmes will be mobilized in France for New Year's Eve, after two years of restrictions due to Covid-19.
Gérald Darmanin calls on the police "to be extremely vigilant".
Some 90,000 police and gendarmes will be mobilized in France, including 5,400 in Paris, for New Year's Eve, after two years of restrictions due to Covid-19, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and the police headquarters said on Friday. from Paris.
The "high and persistent level of terrorist threat" and the "recent events in Paris against the Kurdish community" must "lead to the greatest vigilance", writes Minister Darmanin in a note addressed to the prefects.
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Gérald Darmanin asks them to provide a "deterrent device, visible and on foot", associating law enforcement and soldiers from Operation Sentinel.
Particularly supervised public transport
Public transport will be particularly monitored, adds the minister, and filtering points to access places of gatherings with searches and pat-downs may be set up.
On the urban violence component, usually more frequent on the night of December 31, Gérald Darmanin requests "the systematic arrest of troublemakers".
It also calls for operations to be carried out against driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics, starting on the night of December 30.
In Paris, where the traditional fireworks at midnight is back on the Champs-Elysées, 5,400 police and gendarmes will be mobilized, for its part indicated the police headquarters.
The device will be particularly reinforced on the famous avenue, where the town hall of Paris expects 500,000 people.
95,000 police and gendarmes mobilized in 2021
The take-out sale of alcohol and its consumption on public roads are prohibited from Friday evening to Monday morning in an area around the Champs-Elysées.
Traffic restrictions and public screening points with searches are also planned.
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In 2021, 95,000 police and gendarmes, including 9,000 in Paris, were mobilized for New Year's Eve, in particular to enforce the ban on spontaneous gatherings in the context of an outbreak of Covid-19 cases.