Jammer-guns & drones await Olympic stage as Paris hopes sport is focus

WATCH: Ken Browne reports on France's tight security for the Olympics

At least 15 million people are set to pass through Paris during the Olympics and securing the city will take the largest rollout of French security forces in history.

S‌ecurity will involve 45,000 police and gendarmes, 20,000 soldiers and 15-20,000 private security personnel. In addition, around 100,000 active agents will try to keep Paris safe during the world's largest sporting event.

‌Guillaume Fardé, Security Expert, Sciences Po Paris, said: "There are three main threats. There is a so-called protest threat, there is a threat that is more closely linked to crime, to delinquency. And then there is the issue of terrorism. 

"Imagine a mass terrorist attack, that's the worst-case scenario. But the President of the Republic's bet is that there is no success without some risk, then mitigating that risk with the commitment of 100 percent of our resources."

'Protective bubbles' will be set up around sensitive events, including a heavy police presence on the ground and Permanent Airborne Security Systems in the sky.

This will have helicopters and drones, while jammer-gun operators will be ready to neutralize malicious drone attacks by cutting their communications.

‌Paris 2024 is France's first Olympics in a hundred years and 2,000 police reinforcements are coming from partner countries around the world. Spain alone is sending almost 200 officers.

‌Then there are the QR codes that locals have to download just to move around the city and get home, while many streets and bridges have also been closed causing traffic gridlock.

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But is it enough?

Mathilde Foubert, Security Studies Expert, said: "I think most Parisians are concerned about security because it's a very big city. We have history with security and of course it's an interrogation to have because there will be a lot of people in Paris."

A metal curtain descended across central the French capital on Thursday as the police imposed a security perimeter along the banks of the river Seine, shutting the area off to anyone without a pass.

The Games start on July 26 with an opening ceremony that will see thousands of athletes and performers paraded along a 6-km stretch of the river.

While President Emmanuel Macron's desire to put the city center stage and produce great sporting memories and images, the security operation is one of the biggest the country has experienced for decades. 

What do the locals think?

One Parisian called Olivier said: "I think it's going to be safe - that's my opinion now. I cross my fingers, but I think it's going to be safe. It's going to be a huge event for Paris and we have been waiting for this for 100 years."

‌Paris is betting big on a unique Games with a once-in-a-century security deployment aiming to keep the spotlight firmly on the sport.‌

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