Police Chief Laurent Nuñez has expanded the possibilities of obtaining passes in areas where motor vehicle traffic is prohibited. But closer to the competition venues, people will be searched and screened.
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Doctors, childcare or delivery men: there will ultimately be more traffic exemptions than expected in Paris for the Olympic Games next summer. After the huge mess in November around QR codes and security perimeters in the capital, the prefect of police Laurent Nuñez was not going to hold back from announcing these compromises in person but some of the measures revealed raise questions, notably the systematic search and screening at the entrance to certain areas.
“We have opened up the field of possibilities in terms of exemptions to stick as closely as possible to the reality of life, personal and professional. […] We have made moves,” he said on Tuesday, February 6 in an interview with AFP, highlighting his desire to find a “balance between preserving a more or less normal life for people and the imperatives of security. “.
However, everything is not cast in stone and the prefecture is awaiting “return” from the Paris town hall on this new set of measures. “It’s not completely validated […] but roughly speaking, we had no comments,” said the police prefect.
Concretely, the prefecture expanded the possibilities of obtaining passes in areas where car traffic is prohibited this summer after an initial series of consultations. In particular, it will now be possible to enter with a vehicle in a red perimeter (prohibited to automobile traffic) to provide essential care, deliver meals to vulnerable people, make a move that cannot be postponed, deliveries to businesses or ensure social marauding. Taxis and VTCs will also be able to pick up or drop off a local resident.
Search and “screening” on all floors?
However, for all these exemptions, you will need to register on an online platform and provide the necessary supporting documents to have the mandatory pass. This is therefore not the end of QR codes, the presentation of which in November provoked a controversy over the placing of the capital under cover and their infringing nature on public freedoms.
“People will register beforehand, produce a certain number of supporting documents and we will issue them with a certificate. We, clearly, on the law enforcement side, are pleading for QR codes,” explains Laurent Nuñez.
“Emergency cases are exempt from requesting a certificate” for example a locksmith in the event of a problem but the delivery of parcels or meals by vehicle will not be authorized: “life does not continue as before either”, a insisted the prefect.
Four security perimeters have been established around competition venues during the Olympic (July 26 – August 11) and Paralympic (August 28 – September 8) Games. A gray perimeter (competition venues) is reserved for ticketed spectators and accredited spectators and a Silt perimeter (anti-terrorist protection) set up as close as possible to the competition venues where people will be searched and screened without, for the moment, the base legality of these operations is known. A “major events” decree is currently being prepared by the government to regulate Olympic security, in particular the torch relay and entry and exit from the gray or Silt perimeters.
Another perimeter, red, will prohibit automobile traffic (except for exceptions). A blue perimeter will prevent motorized vehicles from passing through but will remain accessible to those who go there to work, return home or go to a business. The blue and red perimeters are vehicle traffic perimeters. On foot, there is no ban.
The results of the consultations and the final traffic perimeters will be revealed at the end of February.
