Police grumbling: less than a hundred days before the opening, should we be worried about the security of the Paris Olympics ?

Des policiers en colère se sont rassemblés devant l'aéroport de Toulouse-Blagnac. MAXPPP – NATHALIE SAINT AFFRE

Insufficient bonuses, reduced leave, fears for childcare: the police are asking for compensation for automatic mobilization. Worrying then that the security aspect of the Olympics is struggling terribly to recruit its 24,000 private security agents.

They went to the other side of the barrier for a day. Hundreds of police officers took to the streets this Thursday, January 18, across the country at the call of thirteen unions. The reasons for the anger ? A massive and "unrequited" for the Paris Olympic Games next summer.

This "Black Thursday" took various forms: distribution of leaflets as in Bordeaux, minimum activity in police stations, work-to-rule strike in airports or even rallies in front of numerous police stations across the country . There were several hundred to mobilize in Paris. In the region, around fifty Alliance delegates, from Aude, Hérault, P.-O. and Gard led an action at the Spanish border toll on the A9. A rally also took place in front of the Toulouse-Blagnac airport.

Ten days off only during the summer

It was a letter from Gérald Darmanin, addressed to the police unions on December 22, which ignited the powder. The Minister of the Interior calls for an "exceptional" mobilization during the Olympic Games, from July 24 to August 11, which is also worth for the police, gendarmerie, prefectures and even central administration. And it only plans to grant 10 working days of leave for each agent between June 15 and September 15.

In the resources dedicated to security, the minister announced last October "more than 30,000 police officers and gendarmes mobilized every day for a big month and 35,000 on the day of the opening ceremony." He plans to send'20,000 provincial agents as reinforcements to Paris during these Olympics .

"The breaking point is imminent"

 "Mobilizing agents without taking into account the family and personal specificities of each person is a red line", declared Jérôme Moisant, deputy general secretary of the SGP Police Unit union. The inter-union denounces a "lack of social and financial recognition", and draws up the alarming observation of " police officers overexposed, overemployed, oversought" by alerting: "The breaking point is imminent".

Among the demands, the unions are asking for an Olympic bonus of up to  2000  € for all mobilized civil servants, payment of overtime but also respect for the right to leave and social support, with financial support for the care of their children during their automatic mobilization. Many people say they cannot have them looked after at a lower cost during vacation periods.

An envelope of 500 million should be released

The three main unions were received on Monday January 15 by the minister who reiterated his wish that the accompanying measures be "finalized immediately 39;by the end of January". An envelope of 500 million euros should be released for this purpose.

Because the government cannot afford to further undermine a security system that is still far from being closed for the games.  The recruitment of 24,000 private agents required is thus not finalized.

Worrying shortage of private agents for the Olympics

The interministerial delegate to the Olympic Games, Michel Cadot, indicated in recent days that the private security contracts would be signed in mid-February but without assurance that the staffing levels would be sufficient. With a basic salary of 1,350 euros, the sector faces major recruitment difficulties despite initial training reduced from 175 to 106 hours and fully supported by the State. Only 9,000 people have been trained to date.

In the event of a shortage, the State risks having to mobilize more than the 15,000 soldiers already planned. But the latter are not authorized, for example, to carry out palpations.