The Olympic Games in Paris having closed spectacularly, the athletes as well as foreign police officers have returned home. Around 2,000 of them kept the athletes and visitors safe during the Games, together with French police, gendarmerie, army and private security guards. The role of more than 40,000 volunteers was also invaluable.

Among foreign police officers were also seven Slovenian police officers who were deployed directly from Slovenia to France, but at different times and in different locations. In addition, we deployed a police officer to France through the Joint Central European Bomb Technician Training Centre, based in Hungary.

The Slovenian police were represented by police officers from different units and with different backgrounds, all of whom successfully completed their tasks in France and have safely returned home.

"We had nothing but positive experiences with fans"

The four police officers stressed on their return from Lyon that they had had a very positive experience with the fans, although on a few occasions they had been involved in restoring law and order, but fortunately nothing serious had happened. They helped their French colleagues restore law and order during an incident at a football match between New Zealand and Colombia.

Security was well taken care of at the Olympics

Before the conclusion of the work, the French Ministry of the Interior, together with the International Centre for Information (ICC), organised a final security briefing, at which they assessed that the cooperation between local and foreign police officers had been excellent and that the security of the Olympic Games had been well taken care of, with no major security threats. Slovenian police officers also contributed to this outcome.

All officers demonstrated exceptional personal commitment to their duties, which was also noted by their French and other colleagues. At the same time, in the framework of the established media cooperation, the officers promoted the Slovenian police in the French and Slovenian media. They were recognised as a reliable and professional partner in the performance of their tasks, which is why they were entrusted with the most demanding and responsible tasks. In this way, they have helped raise the profile of the Slovenian police both at home and internationally.