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New Year’s Eve: a strong police force will be deployed throughout France on December 31
New Year’s Eve: a strong police force will be deployed throughout France on December 31 – (France 2)
We do not yet know if the celebration on December 31 will be beautiful, but it will be very supervised with more than 90,000 police and gendarmes, against a backdrop of a very present terrorist threat.
The transition to the new year is a must on the Champs-Élysées. More than a million people will gather. In 48 hours, traffic will be prohibited in a large area. Pedestrians will be searched and bags checked. In total, 95,000 police officers, gendarmes and soldiers will be deployed in mainland France and overseas, in a context of reinforced vigilance.
Hundreds of fireworks mortars seized
Vigilance will also be required regarding urban violence and in particular the use of fireworks mortars, as during the riots at the beginning of the summer. 18,500 fireworks were seized on Friday December 29 in Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin), and 537 fireworks sticks were found in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône). Customs inspect packages coming from abroad.
Another issue: thealcohol level while driving. From the morning of Friday December 29 until the following Monday, numerous checks are planned on the roads. For this evening of December 31, only certain municipal police officers who were already on strike at Christmas over statutory and financial demands will be missing. Unions are calling for work to stop on New Year’s Eve.
