Last Thursday, March 17, during the demonstration for purchasing power in Paris, those present were able to notice the presence of a strange device at the end of the course. Signed Paris police prefecture, a giant screen displayed information on closed metro stations and streets nearby and even informed of the time of dispersal of the demonstration.
Also seen during the France Insoumise demonstration this Sunday, it is a variable message sign (PMV) in white steel weighing 1.6 tonnes set up by the Modernization and Strategy Service (SMS) of the Directorate of Public Order and Traffic.
Messages for demonstrations and a loudspeaker
According to the Paris police headquarters, contacted by 20 minutesthis prototype is inspired by a German model and is intended to streamline communication between law enforcement and demonstrators, as required by the doctrine of the National Law Enforcement Scheme (SNMO).
Thus, the messages it broadcasts are directly controlled by the law enforcement command room. A loudspeaker, placed under the screen, also allows the authorities to pass messages such as dispersal calls. The new equipment should come to the aid of liaison and information teams and police mediators.
If the experiments should continue on future events, the demonstrators have already appropriated the device, this Thursday, by sticking the vignettes of different workers’ unions on it. Another message, welcome this one.