the use of body scanners is “not recorded”, according to the organizers of the Games

This is one of the measures presented by the government as ” necessary “ to good organization “great events of 2023 and 2024” in the field of sports, and in particular the Olympic and Paralympic Games (JOP) in the summer of 2024: the authorization of the use of body scanners at the entrance to sports arenas is one of the key provisions of the bill “relating to the JOP and containing various other provisions” definitively adopted this week by Parliament.

However, at this stage, nothing says that this equipment, already used in a certain number of airports in France, will be present for the prechecks and the screening on the Olympic sites in fifteen months. “It is not recorded. It’s part of the assumptions.”says Thomas Collomb, deputy director of security within the Games Organizing Committee (Cojop).

It thus confirms what the senator (Les Républicains) Agnès Canayer, had mentioned in her report, on behalf of the law commission, on the so-called Olympic bill: “This provision does not appear to have been requested by the organizers of the Olympic and Paralympic Games or the authorities in charge of ensuring their security”she noted, adding that she doubted “therefore that such equipment effectively integrates the security devices of the Games”.

“We must have a stabilized regulatory framework and these technologies must also have been tested before the Games”specifies Mr. Collomb, who adds that the organizers of Paris 2024 want “be sure that this contributes to the optimization of human resources” and that this “is also part of our budgetary control framework”.

“The search for efficiency” will take precedence

With regard to the regulatory framework, the Ministry of Sports and JOPs has stated that it will ensure that“a quick application” of the law so that it can “contribute effectively, and as early as possible, to the flawless preparation and organization of the Paris 2024 Games”. It will nevertheless be necessary to wait a bit: the left opposition in Parliament has expressed its intention to seize the Constitutional Council.

As for the optimization of human resources, the government, in its arguments to justify the implementation of these body scanners, argued that they would allow “to quadruple the control flows, with 800 people per hour compared to 200 with the traditional palpation system”.

And if, regarding the cost, the deputy (La France insoumise) Antoine Léaument pointed out, during the discussions on the bill, that “These tools cost a fortune, between 89,000 and 150,000 euros each”the government has hinted that one of the first experiments could occur during the Rugby World Cup in the fall of 2023: before Parliament, the Minister of Sports and JOP, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra quoted the authorization of scanners as one “provisions that will be useful for organizing” this event.

In any case, even if the installation of this equipment has been adopted within the framework of a bill relating to the Games, it will not be imposed on its organizers. No more than other managers of sports venues. This was reminded by the deputy Guillaume Vuilletet (Renaissance), rapporteur on the bill on behalf of the law commission: “it is not a question of imposing an obligation, but of introducing a simple option”.

Failing to be tested in real life on sporting events between now and the Games, body scanners could be tested on events “cultural and recreational” welcoming more than 300 people, since this is what the text of the law authorizes. At the management of Paris 2024, however, we insist on the fact that, given the nature and scale of the Olympic event, it is “the quest for efficiency” which will take precedence.