Five rings of steel

Ultimate responsibility for security at the London 2012 Olympic Games rests – as one might expect – with the UK Government (and, more specifically, the Home Office). The Home Secretary will oversee delivery of the specific responsibilities of several specialist organisations and departments, including MI5, the London Resilience Team and the Metropolitan Police Service. The police are accountable to the Home Secretary under the provisions of the Police Act 1996, while MI5 is ‘ruled’ by the same individual thanks to the Security Service Act 1989.

Co-ordination of tactical and operational inputs from all of these agencies then lies with the Security Directorate of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG). In addition, the Directorate is charged with co-ordinating the roles of all private sector security companies, who will play a vital role not only in terms of pure security operations but also in relation to issues of public safety.

A decision has been made to employ a single Olympic command structure. A Cabinet-level Olympic Security Committee – chaired by the Home Secretary – is the ultimate authority, acting as the co-ordinating group for all of the UK's security agencies (and for policy matters). The Committee is to be 'staffed' by the most senior representatives of all UK security and resilience agencies. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner is a key member of the Committee, and will be responsible for all planning and operational matters relating to counter-terrorism and general policing activities.

In turn, the Olympic Security Plan prepared by the Security Directorate will frame responses in both the public and private sectors. In the public sector, MI5 will assist with matters of national security and intelligence, other intelligence agencies will gather (and then disseminate) relevant information, the Metropolitan Police Service (and regional police services) will take care of law enforcement and emergency response (supplemented at Olympic venues by the military, as and when necessary) and the London Resilience Team will handle contingency and consequence management planning.

Private sector responsibilities include security controls at Olympic venues, the provision of spectator services staff and ‘mag-and-bag’ searching, etc.

Personnel at the ready

London is served not just by the Metropolitan Police but also the City of London Police and the British Transport Police. All, of course, routinely work together on major events. The combined force comprises 35,000 officers. For special events like the Olympics, the Metropolitan Police Service can call upon a combined total of 140,000 officers.

Security staffing in 2012 will be intelligence-led, and ultimately determined by the level of threat closer to the time of the Games. Based on current policing methods and styles, the Games could require anything up to 15,000 trained police officers. Arrangements are already in place to ensure that the Games will be able to draw police officers from across the UK as the situation demands. These arrangements are to be co-ordinated by the Police National Incident Co-ordination Centre. For the Games, security needs will be assessed on a case-by-case basis across the entire spectrum of policing responsibilities.

The national policing response is to be fully supported by – and designed to work in partnership with – the private security industry. Current estimates suggest that 6,500 licensed private sector operatives would be required.

A third (and vital) element of the security package is the necessity for stewarding and marshalling staff. These roles should be fulfilled by 10,000 volunteers. Safety at sporting events is crucial, and all volunteer staff will have to be trained in their roles to the highest standards. That training would include instruction in basic First Aid, evacuation procedures and security awareness.

Concentration on planning

What, then, are the prime areas for consideration when it comes to securing the 2012 Games? On the macro level there’s border surveillance. This will combine the operations of the Defence Forces with the Coast Guard, border patrol personnel and members of the police service. Air space protection is equally important. Here, the necessary considerations include flight safety reinforcement, airspace surveillance, banning flights over specific areas, air medical evacuation and fire-fighting, etc.

Terrorism is now a major global threat. With this in mind, the UK Security Service remains highly vigilant, devoting extensive resources to intelligence gathering and assessment. The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre and the Home Office describe the main objective as being “to detect and disrupt terrorist activity without impinging on the freedoms intrinsic to our national culture”.

To date, UK anti-terrorist experts have undertaken a number of proactive operations with significant success. Given the fact that terrorism does not respect national borders, officials from other countries – notably Spain, Indonesia, Turkey and the United States – have made use of the UK’s counter-terrorism skills and intelligence databases.

Most recently, the UK chaired the Olympic Advisory Group on Security for the 2004 Olympics (see pages 49-50 and 53-54) and, in consequence, the Athens event remained free from terrorist activity. Such experience suggests that the London Olympics will also demand an international response as far as security is concerned. A bespoke anti-terrorist plan has to be put in place, so too a crisis management system, an intelligence network and a series of rapid response units.

Comprehensively drafted – and conscientiously applied and enforced – regulations are now commonplace. These extend to rules governing the petrochemical and biotechnological industries, as well as every aspect of transport (including the carriage of potentially dangerous substances by air, road, rail and sea).

Navigation along the River Thames (which flows near most of the Games’ venues) is controlled by the Port of London Authority. There are no nuclear power stations within 100 km of London, so that’s one less headache for security personnel to worry about.

The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority controls the use of UK airspace, including the provision of specific restrictions during the period of the Games. The Authority regularly imposes overfly bans or other restrictions in response to requests by the police or security services under Air Navigation Regulations. Restrictions are going to apply to all aircraft, whether registered in the UK or otherwise.

It’s highly likely that talks will need to be held involving the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to examine how any planned ‘dirty bomb’ attack might be averted. The American Government once provided the IAEA with $500,000 to cover the cost of radiation detectors for Olympic events. Both portable and fixed, these detectors may be installed at several locations and focus on border security.

Safer roads

The European Union’s (EU) Transport Safety Council affirms that the UK now has the lowest rate of fatal road accidents in the entire Union. The most recent figures demonstrate that there were 7.4 deaths per billion kilometres travelled in the UK, while the EU average stands at 13.1.

Meantime, Transport for London’s database shows that the capital’s streets are becoming safer for drivers and pedestrians alike. In 2001, London’s first road safety plan set an objective for a 40 per cent reduction in fatalities by 2010. Exceptionally safe roads notwithstanding, specialist Traffic Departments within the UK’s police services are experts at dealing with major traffic accidents. This expertise extends to quick and efficient road clearance following an accident.

Fire prevention and protection

Plans for the Games, developed in close co-ordination with the London Fire Brigade, exemplify the importance that’s being attached to fire prevention and protection. The nation’s fire services have extensive legal powers to regulate fire safety in publicly-used premises. These regulations cover evacuation times and methods, alarms and sprinkler systems.

The London Fire Brigade is already working closely with London 2012 planners and architects to devise engineering solutions for the new and existing venues that will host the Games.

During the Games, the Brigade will offer a full-time prevention and protection service for every venue, with particular emphasis on the Olympic Park. Dedicated resources will include two pumping appliances, a fire rescue unit and an incident response unit (with facilities for mass decontamination). At present, London’s security budget for 2012 is somewhere in the region of £225 million. However, the 7/7 bombings are likely to result in that figure being raised. The original figure is but one fifth of the budget Greek authorities had to find in 2004, although existing security structures in London are much better than was the case in the Greek capital.

The Paralympic and Olympic Games will benefit from the same high levels of security. Strategies will be identical, with intelligence-led response, and thus the measures deployed will be commensurate with any threat. However, tactical and operational plans will be adapted to reflect changes in sporting event locations and the number of spectators in attendance.