"Cops scorned, Olympics in danger": Police officers demonstrated in Paris on Wednesday to demand guarantees for their working conditions during the Olympics and greater financial compensation for their "overtime". 

Tense negotiations are underway between the government and police unions over Olympic bonuses. One union staged a first protest on Wednesday, demanding a one-off payment of 1,500 euros per officer. 

Amid torches and in the freezing cold, around 300 police officers sang La Marseillaise on board four double-decker buses, according to the police union Unité SGP. The buses are normally used by tourists. 

Less than 200 days before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris (26 July-11 August), this parade is "an inauguration ceremony for the SGP Unité Police". The union wants to warn about the lack of guarantees for the officers, especially in terms of holidays or bonuses.

"It is a success, but frankly, we could have been spared this if we had had a fluid dialogue with the Ministry of the Interior and, above all, answers to our questions", regrets Linda Kebbab, national delegate of the police union Unité SGP-FO.

In a letter sent on 22 December to the FO union at the Ministry of the Interior, Minister Gérald Darmanin called for "100% mobilisation" of officers from 24 July to 11 August and proposed 10 working days' leave for each officer between 15 June and 15 September. 

"Our colleagues don't know which missions they will be assigned to or how many hours they will have to work," says Angelo Bruno, national secretary delegate of Unité SGP police in Ile-de-France. There is particular concern for the children of police officers. 

"Imagine a police couple who unfortunately don't have much family nearby, or a family who can't take care of the children either, how will they manage in August when the crèches aren't open?" asks Grégory Joron, secretary general of Unité SGP Police-FO.

"Of course, we can always rely on the resilience of police officers over the years, we have faced crisis after crisis and... they always respond, even in the worst of times," says Linda Kebbab: "At some point there may be a rope might come loose and that's not our aim either".

The unions were due to be received in Beauvau on Tuesday to discuss the OGs. "It was postponed because of the political context," explained Gérald Darmanin's entourage.