Will round-the-clock police surveillance be legacy of London Olympics?
LONDON — To understand the gargantuan security operation that authorities have prepared for the Olympic Games that open here Friday – nearly twice as many military troops are on the streets as Britain has deployed in Afghanistan, for starters – it helps to remember what happened the morning after London won the right to host these games seven years ago.
On July 7, 2005, homegrown militants detonated bombs in the city’s Underground subway and on a passenger bus, killing dozens in one of the worst terrorist attacks in the country’s history.
While there’s no evidence that attack was linked to the Olympic bid, it’s had an unmistakable impact on planning for these games. The 10,000 athletes competing for medals will be dwarfed by a contingent of more than 36,000 soldiers, police officers and private security staff, backed by American law enforcement agents, thousands of closed-circuit cameras, unmanned drones, at least six missile batteries positioned on rooftops in East London and the Royal Navy’s largest warship, the HMS Ocean, floating in the Thames.
“Lockdown London,” read one headline in the Guardian newspaper.
Authorities stress that there’s no specific threat to the games, but any attempt to deflect attention from the combat-grade planning evaporated last week, when the private security firm G4S shamefacedly admitted that it would fail to deliver all of the 10,000 personnel it had promised to guard Olympic venues.
On Tuesday, British officials said they’d activate another 1,200 military personnel to fill the shortfall, bringing the total of British troops who’ll work the Olympics to 18,200. For comparison, Britain deploys about 9,500 in Afghanistan.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/07/24/157473/will-round-the-clock-police-surveillance.html
18,200 troops? That's greater than division strength. I love sports, but is there really a point to the Olympics if that much money and security is necessary?
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