Since the clashes and looting that marked the October 17 demonstration, police drones and helicopters have regularly flown over processions in France. During the inter-union demonstration on November 5, the skies of Paris and several cities were crowded with police or gendarmerie aircraft.
Law enforcement massively uses these devices to observe crowd movements from the air and to enforce access bans decreed by the prefectures.
La Quadrature du Net is concerned about the acceleration of this use and the relaxation of the framework. The Ripost law, adopted in July, includes two sections on surveillance drones.
The use of cameras onboard aircraft is framed by law: forces must request prefectural authorization specifying the number of devices, the perimeter and the duration.
The day after the October unrest, six aerial drones took over. The scene and the buzzing have become familiar.
For November 7, the Paris police prefecture announced the deployment of a helicopter and drones.