Ahead of Paris Olympics 2024, French police get nod to use drones for crowd monitoring

Paris: Shaken by violent protests over pension reforms for the last few months, the French government has permitted the police to use drones equipped with cameras for a wide range of tasks including crowd monitoring and border control from Friday. The move was announced following the publication of a decree in the Official Journal on Thursday. The approval comes exactly a year ahead of the Olympics 2024, due to be hosted by Paris and also at a when President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform of hiking the retirement age to earn a full pension has triggered nationwide protests that turned violent. The new legislation allows police, customs or military to use drones to prevent attacks on people or property, ensure the security of gatherings in public places as well as maintain or restore public order when these gatherings are likely to severely disrupt daily routine. The drones can also be used for the prevention of terrorist acts, the regulation of transport flows, border surveillance, and rescuing people, the decree said. It also details and implements in practice a security law voted by the French parliament last year. France’s CNIL data privacy watchdog had in March demanded that a detailed policy of use be published, including on the information of the public concerned by the use of drones. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.