By Sarah Roebuck
Police1
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Police Department will be armed while assisting with security for the 2024 Summer Olympics, the Los Angeles Times reports.
French government law typically does not allow for overseas police officers to be armed in the country, but LAPD had a role in persuading the French government to temporarily suspend that law, according to the report.
LAPD will have 32 reserve officers and a supervisor traveling overseas the last week of July as part of the Olympic delegation to work at event sites. The officers will be under the supervision of the French national police and the Gendarmerie, according to documents obtained by The Times.
France will cover airfare and lodging expenses for the officers, but not meals, the documents state.
The LAPD website states that reserves, who have completed the Police Academy, can perform the same functions as full-time officers. Three reserve teams will stay in France during the Games, working 8- to 12-hour shifts, five days a week.
According to trip plans, visiting officers won’t wear body cameras. Despite being in full uniform and armed, their duties will be mostly ceremonial, aimed at providing a visible presence rather than making arrests or assisting with crowd control, according to the report.
The officers will also provide extra security for L.A. political leaders, including Mayor Karen Bass, during their expected visits to the Games.
The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department is dispatching its own delegation, according to the report.
The LAPD and the LASD are not the only U.S. policing agency set to work at the Games.
Paris Police Chief Laurent Nunez announced last month that about 30,000 police officers, including armed units, will be deployed daily, with up to 45,000 officers for the opening ceremony on the Seine, which will feature boats and large crowds along the embankments.
Numerous officers from international departments will be joined by approximately 25,000 private security guards, according to Nunez.
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