4 ms·

You just ignored the armored vehicles and police station permanently setup at one end of the square? The facial recognition when you go through the scanners? Th

by ciguy 6y ago

You just ignored the armored vehicles and police station permanently setup at one end of the square? The facial recognition when you go through the scanners? The guards posted at vantage points with rifles? You were either paying no attention at all, or you are intentionally misrepresenting the situation.

ebg13 6y ago
> The guards posted at vantage points with rifles? Your other points notwithstanding, rifles aren't particularly special in French policing. Gendarmerie are basically everywhere.
ketzu 6y ago
> You just ignored the armored vehicles and police station permanently setup at one end of the square? Apparently yes, at least I can't find them on my pictures and don't remember them (but that doesn't mean they weren't there, human memories are notoriously unreliable). But I didn't took that many pictures either way, because it was slightly raining and not that interesting, I accidentally went when the forbidden city was closed. > The facial recognition when you go through the scanners? I have a hard time telling facial recognition and non facial recognition security cameras apart. They are common in many places of the world, so I stopped noticing them all that much. >The guards posted at vantage points with rifles? I mostly remember the honor guards and police at the entry. But I wouldn't be surprised if there were some with rifles somewhere, as those are not that uncommon at high profile places. > You were either paying no attention at all, or you are intentionally misrepresenting the situation. I'm sorry you get that impression just because it doesn't fit with your experience. I personally think that both our experiences are likely to be true, but are like snapshots of a given time.
- ciguy 6y ago
  Appreciate your reasonable responses. It's of course possible that they change the security level at times especially if the Forbidden City was closed as you say. It likely also changes around the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Examining my own feelings on this matter further, I think I had a sense that the security at the Eiffel was very focused on keeping weapons and bombs out, while the focus at Tiananmen was more on controlling the crowd and tracking who was there. For example the police station and armored vehicles were inside the square. At the Eiffel the security was outside only.

by ciguy 6y ago

ebg13 6y ago

> The guards posted at vantage points with rifles? Your other points notwithstanding, rifles aren't particularly special in French policing. Gendarmerie are basically everywhere.

ketzu 6y ago

> You just ignored the armored vehicles and police station permanently setup at one end of the square? Apparently yes, at least I can't find them on my pictures and don't remember them (but that doesn't mean they weren't there, human memories are notoriously unreliable). But I didn't took that many pictures either way, because it was slightly raining and not that interesting, I accidentally went when the forbidden city was closed. > The facial recognition when you go through the scanners? I have a hard time telling facial recognition and non facial recognition security cameras apart. They are common in many places of the world, so I stopped noticing them all that much. >The guards posted at vantage points with rifles? I mostly remember the honor guards and police at the entry. But I wouldn't be surprised if there were some with rifles somewhere, as those are not that uncommon at high profile places. > You were either paying no attention at all, or you are intentionally misrepresenting the situation. I'm sorry you get that impression just because it doesn't fit with your experience. I personally think that both our experiences are likely to be true, but are like snapshots of a given time.

ciguy 6y ago
Appreciate your reasonable responses. It's of course possible that they change the security level at times especially if the Forbidden City was closed as you say. It likely also changes around the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Examining my own feelings on this matter further, I think I had a sense that the security at the Eiffel was very focused on keeping weapons and bombs out, while the focus at Tiananmen was more on controlling the crowd and tracking who was there. For example the police station and armored vehicles were inside the square. At the Eiffel the security was outside only.