France plans a new plan to deploy around 1,000 CCTV cameras in the countrys urban areas to provide a pan-European citizen security presence.
The plan was announced on Friday, but the details were kept under wraps.
“It is to prevent crimes, and it is to increase the capacity to fight crime and protect the public,” said Interior Minister Matthias Fekl.
The cameras would be deployed in “northern areas, where criminals tend to hide, and the suburbs, where crime is concentrated.”
The initiative will involve installing 1,600 cameras in various locations in Paris, Lyon, and Marseille, as well as in other cities and towns.
The announcement comes after French police said on Sunday they had found an armed man armed with a rifle in a home in a northern Paris suburb.
The suspect was shot and killed.
French Interior Minister Fekla said the cameras will be deployed as part of a broader plan to prevent crime and safeguard the public.
“Citizens will not hesitate to take part in any investigation or action that is taken in the public interest,” Feklas said in a statement.