Police trade unions have denounced the new measure, saying that publicising the fact that the officers will not be able to carry a weapon will turn them into prime terror targets.
The conservative mayor of the French Riviera town of Nice on Saturday confirmed that unarmed police officers would soon be stationed in local schools to protect children from intruders and future terrorist attacks.
Right-winger Christian Estrosi told French media on the sidelines of a meeting with education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer to discuss the new security measure: “It’s a first in France.”
Mr Blanquer told France Inter radio on Sunday that the “experimental” measure would be rolled out in September, and would only affect a “handful” of local schools pre-selected by the government and Nice authorities.
He said: “We are treating this as an experiment… The unarmed police officer will patrol both in and outside the grounds and will be expected to integrate himself into school life.”
Security guards and later police officers were stationed outside Nice schools after an Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist rammed his truck into a crowd of revellers along the town’s famous beachfront Promenade des Anglais on July 14 2016, killing 86 people and injuring scores more.
The deadly attack plunged Nice into chaos and mourning, with local officials implementing a string of anti-terror measures to prevent another vehicle ramming attack from taking place.
Local schools, long considered a prime target for terrorists, were equipped with CCTV cameras and anti-intrusion alarms; while teachers were handed special ‘panic button’ bracelets to alert police about any security threats and access badges.
Nice officials have been calling for police officers to mount patrols inside and outside schools since last spring, but the measure had been swiftly rejected by then-education minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem.
Local trade unions, for their part, say that the new security measure could turn the police officers stationed in schools into “prime terrorist targets” because they will be unarmed and unable to defend themselves.
A police trade unionist told the French daily Le Monde: “The new measure could put the unarmed police officers in a dangerous situation. Because in the event of a terrorist attack, they will inevitably be singled out as a target.”