Mag. Boris Rojs, Head of the Public Order and Peace Department of the Uniformed Police Directorate of the General Police Directorate, is stationed in Paris, while Erna Kavčič, Senior Criminal Police Officer, Koper, Robi Ribič, Senior Criminal Inspector Specialist, Directorate of the General Police Directorate, Uroš Smole, Senior Police Officer, Celje, and Rok Hribernik, Criminal Inspector, Maribor, are in Lyon, where they are helping their French colleagues mainly at the football matches.

Months before the start of the Olympic Games, the French security authorities, through their police attaché, asked the Slovenian police for help. They specified that they needed seven Slovenian police officers, the locations where they were needed and what their tasks were," explained Boris Rojs. He added that the GPU decided not to assign the police officers, as it is summer time, which is also holiday time. Therefore, they decided to hold a kind of internal call to participate, which was open to all. The selection was made on the basis of references. "I am confident that we have selected the best police officers," he added.

The largest number was seven, and there are currently five in France. Rojs is in France as a delegate of the Olympic Committee, the others are in France at the express invitation of the French security authorities. The Slovenian Olympic Committee and the Police signed an agreement back in 2016, which stipulates in one of its clauses that the Police will deploy a certain number of police officers to the Olympic Games.

According to Erna Kavčič, their work involves assisting the French police, Slovenian fans and others who need their help. Their knowledge of foreign languages is a great help in their work. "We help patrol the city, we support the French police and our knowledge of foreign languages helps us a lot," said Erna. All the police officers added that they have had positive experiences with Slovenian fans and that there have been no problems.

So far, they have been involved in a few cases of breaches of public order, notably a dispute between two fan groups after a football match in Lyon. Their role is mainly supportive, as many French police officers have been deployed to the main Olympic venues in Paris. They describe their experience with their French counterparts as very positive and, as they say, they work as a homogeneous international team.

Interestingly, they said that they are also visited by police unions to check whether they have good working conditions, water on hot days and whether they need anything. They also cover 30 kilometres a day, as they do a lot of patrolling, which was quite a feat in these hot days and with all the equipment.

There are currently 498 foreign police officers from 44 countries in France for the Olympic Games, and this positive experience will certainly remain a fond memory for the Slovenians.

More photos at: GALLERY.