Greetings from Nice, France

City: Nice

Country: France

• What end of year festivities will be taking place in your city?

The Christmas market on the Place Masséna – Jardin Albert 1er will take place from 6 December  2019 to 5 January  2020. With ice-skating rink, entertainment, craftsmen cottages, gifts, and multiple shows, it has been created to bring festive moments to life with family and friends.

• Could you please describe briefly what additional measures are being taken to secure your city’s public spaces during the festivities?

There will be an increased video protection to avoid any shadow areas with an increased number of high definition cameras on the public space around and in the market. Agents will be specifically dedicated to monitoring the event at the Urban Supervision Centre.

A division of surveillance between the Municipal Police, the National Police and private security is planned. The Municipal police will increase dynamic patrols in the city centre, a specific mission "Christmas market" is planned with a permanent presence on site. The National police will increase dynamic patrols in the city centre. Private security will control market entry and exit points with filtering.

The space will be secured by integrated barriers (high fences). A vehicle intrusion prevention system will be installed on Place Masséna with a combination of fixed and removable bollards.

In addition, an experiment on crowd movement analysis in the context of the Christmas market will be conducted as part of an innovation project.

• What are the main challenges?

Optimum security that can guarantee the security of the public space, while not being intrusive for visitors so that they can fully enjoy the event.

Prevent terrorist attacks, petty crime, pickpockets and the presence of weapons.