EmergencyNet NEWS Service
Tuesday, July 9, 1996
Vol. 2 - 191
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**LEAD STORY**
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SECURITY AT THE SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES IS READY
By Steve Macko, ENN Editor
The Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta begin on Friday, 19 July. Even though that is a little less than two
weeks to go, security personnel are already manning their posts and technicions are fine-tuning the myriad of
high-tech security equipment that will be used.
When it comes to the security of these games, nothing has been left to chance in Atlanta and the other venues
that will be used by the athletes. An army of law enforcement officers will outnumber the athletes themselves.
Security has evolved into a major production unto itself ever since the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972, when
eleven Israeli athletes were killed by Black September terrorists. The security for the 1996 games is said to be
tightest ever in history.
Security planners for the Olympic Games have tried to cover every angle possible -- from cops on patrol to
scuba divers and helicopters and high-tech devices such as I.D. badges with computer chips.
The two things that constantly weigh on the minds of the people in charge of the security are the bombings of the
World Trade Center in New York City and the federal building in Oklahoma City. Strategies to combat any
possible terrorist attack have been planned and then have been re-planned. Though they won't confirm it, it is
rumored that security planners have plotted their strategies using war games, just like the military. Said one FBI
agent, "There is too much at stake here to fail."
Security planners have spent more than two years in their planning. A lot of people don't realize that all of the
Olympic competitions will not be held in Atlanta. Venues, such as RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., will also
be used. That stadium, like all of the venues, will be under the eyes of security cameras.
Experts in every conceivable crisis management specialty will be brought in to assist security officials. From
hostage negotiators to underwater explosives experts. Major John Gordon of the Atlanta Police Department
said, "When all is said and done, this city might be the safest place on the planet."
One of the biggest challenges from a security viewpoint is the Ocoee River in the Cherokee National Forest.
The canoeing and whitewater kayaking competitions will be held at this Tennessee location. 130 miles away
from Atlanta. There will be more than 300 federal, state and local law enforcement officers providing security
and chase away hunters.
The officers assigned to this detail will live in remote base camps. Observation posts will be manned both on the
ground and in the air. There will be constant foot patrols and a small flotilla of boats will provide surveillance 24
hours a day. A U.S. Forest Service agent, in commenting on the security precautions, said, "I've never seen
anything like this."
At another venue, in Gainesville, Georgia, located 50 miles from Atlanta, similiar security precautions are in
place for the rowing events on Lake Lanier. Each day, before the rowing events, the one-mile course will be
swept electronically for explosives.
Federal agents have even checked out and approved the airport in Gainesville months ahead of time. The
airport had to be approved to land military cargo planes in case, for some reason, troops had be flown in.
But the most sophisticated of security equipment will be used in downtown Atlanta, where most of the games
will take place. This, of course, is where the vast majority of athletes and spectators will be. Sitting in a control
room, Michael Beck, an executive with a security firm called Sensormatic, is able to click on a computer mouse
and the security camera that is mounted on top of the scoreboard in Fulton County Stadium is able to pan all
around.
1,000 video cameras have been installed for the Olympic Games. Operators controlling the cameras will have
the ability to zoom in on just about anyone, regardless of where they are located in the stadium(s).
Security at the Olympic Village, where the athletes will live, will be tighter than it is at the stadiums. Access to
the residential areas will be controlled by scanners that are able to read individual handprints. In order to gain
entry, a person's handprint must match digitized versions that are stored in computer chips embedded in
identification badges.
The movement of people other than athletes will be closely controlled and monitored. Each person has a
security clearance level. This gives some members of the staff access to some locations but not to others.
Employees will move through doors that are electronically programmed to track employees from door-to-door.
Michael Beck of Sensormatic said, "If we need to make a change on their access or shut them out, we can just
jump on the computer terminal and take them out."
There will also be a large number of uniformed police officers in Atlanta. Some officials, privately, have raised
concern about how the Atlanta Police Department, with its relatively small force of only 1,550 officers, will be
able to handle their share of protecting venues, control traffic and still be able to tend to providing everyday
police service to the city. Morale of the department is also an issue. (A subject of a past ENN report.)
As a precaution, Olympic officials conducted a two-year, worldwide recruitment drive to get 2,400 volunteer
police officers to assist at the games. The volunteers, (Some are from the Chicago area) will have to pay for the
expense to get to the games, but they will receive free lodgings and meals.
The recruitment drive attracted 9,000 applicants from 50 diffent countries from around the world. William
Rathburn, the director of security for the Olympic Games, said that sixty percent of the volunteers will come
from police agencies in other countries. More than 300 of the volunteers hold the rank of police chief. Some are
coming from as far away as Australia, Norway and South Africa. Rathburn said, "I was amazed at the response
and the kind of people we were getting."
The volunteer security force will not be armed but will wear its own distinctive Olympic uniform. The largest
force of security personnel will come from the federal government. Agents from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the U.S. Customs Service
will be drawn from all across the U.S.
The U.S. Justice Department has assigned Gil Childers, who was the lead prosecutor in the World Trade
Center bombing, to head its part in the security planning. The U.S. Attorney in Atlanta said, "If things hit the fan,
there are clear chains of command that lead to a handoff to the FBI."
Hopefully, that won't be necessary.
(c) Emergencynet News Service, 1996, All Rights Reserved.