Will there be a shortage of private security agents? Despite the announcements, doubts persist

Antoine Bienvault / Photo credit: Laure Boyer / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
11:25, April 20, 2024

With less than 100 days until the start of the Olympic Games in Paris, the issue of security is at the center of concern. If the government and organizers seem largely confident at the moment, the question of the lack of private security agents is beginning to emerge.

This is a matter of concern for the entire state apparatus: the security of the Olympic Games in Paris. Less than 100 days before the opening ceremony, which itself concentrates the majority of the cold sweats of the French services, will protection be up to the challenge to ensure the safety of the 15,000 athletes and hundreds of thousands of tourists? The 29 days of games will put our skills to the test, although the organizers are currently confident.

Within the organizing committee, we assure you that everything will be ready in time. A confidence also shared by the government and especially by Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. When asked about Jacques Vendroux’s Europe 1 microphone, the sports minister wants to be reassuring about the events planned for the opening ceremony on the banks of the Seine. “We will have 45,000 internal security forces. There will be 350 gendarmes from the GIGN, there will be 100 demining divers from the army. We will also have the raid that will be there,” explains Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. “I think it will be the safest room on the planet on the evening of July 26.”

8,000 private security agents are wanted

The challenge will of course be to secure these Olympic Games for 15 days. According to the organizing committee, 97% of the staff have already been recruited. But according to Pierre Brajeux, president of the French Federation of Private Security, there is still a shortfall of 8,000 private security agents to complete the system. “It is extremely important that we have a final communication campaign to attract people. I am thinking especially of students, a population that is extremely interesting and interested. Three weeks of training gives them the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games, to be in the heart of an event that they will likely never see again in their lifetime.”

Today, France Travail already offers training available to men and women. In three weeks it is possible to train in all security professions: body search, surveillance and even a canine agent to carry out night patrols.