I just spotted about 15 police officers at this new hotel opening near Raouche.
There about four police cars on the scene, a cluster of officers near the entrance, another to the side. You can see four in this shot, and there were several more out of frame.
There were about five more cops near the back exit. Sorry for the poor quality. I shot these while I was driving by.
It’s interesting that the Internal Security Forces (ISF) can deploy so many officers to a hotel opening, when one rarely sees such numbers of police out patrolling the streets. In fact, despite a major police station in Hamra, I can hear people drag racing cars and motorcycles all throughout the night, just past the station.
Worse, students from AUB, which is literally across the street from the station (Mukhfar Hobeish) have complained of several armed assaults over the past two weeks, when walking home through the streets of Hamra. The students question the lack of police patrols in this report from LBC yesterday:
All this raises serious questions about the management of our police forces. Is the protection of private enterprises given a higher priority than the protection of citizens?
