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Jim Seida / NBC News
Metropolitan Police officers guard one of the entrances to London's Olympic Park on Monday. (Jim Seida / NBC News)
Updated at 9:09 a.m. ET: LONDON -- The biggest peacetime security operation in Britain’s history is under way – an $877-million civilian and military plan to protect athletes and visitors from threats ranging from suicide bombers to organized criminals. But it has also turned some London streets into military zones and Olympic venues into fortresses.
A simple glance at the main Olympic Park in East London confirms this will be the most security-conscious Games in history: More than 11 miles of razor-wire-topped electric fencing separates the site from its surroundings, every entrance is guarded by soldiers and the surrounding streets and shopping malls are patrolled by police carrying 9mm semi-automatic weapons – an unusual sight in Britain, where armed patrols are normally found only at airports.
On the busiest days, 12,500 police officers will be on duty while 12,200 soldiers will carry out the venue security searches assisted by at least 7,000 contracted civilian security workers. A further 5,500 troops will be involved in military operations outside the site.
London's Metropolitan Police force is providing security for the Olympics on the ground, in the water, and in the air. NBC's Stephanie Gosk gets a firsthand demonstration of some of the new technology that will be implemented during the Games.
“I think the British have prepared extremely well and in my judgment this is as secure an Olympics preparation as I have ever seen,” said NBC counter-terrorism expert Michael Leiter.
Going for gold: British workers cash in on Olympics with strike threats
Every vehicle entering the site is scanned and searched, inside and out, by military teams in ‘sterile’ zones away from key buildings. The maximum-security athletes’ village is ringed by even more metal fences. It’s enough to prompt some to compare the Olympic Park to a prison.
But it’s the less obvious measures that have brought the greatest controversy to the Games. At least 1,850 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras feed pictures back across London to the joint police and government control center (NOCC) at New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the city’s Metropolitan Police, according to a data access request by civil liberties campaign group, Big Brother Watch. (Olympic organizers refused to say on Tuesday how many cameras are in use.)
London mayor Boris Johnson speaks with TODAY's Matt Lauer about how prepared the city is to host the Olympic games, and promises he won't violate the "no politicians rule" and try to carry the Olympic torch.
The extent of the surveillance might surprise visitors from the United States, but is a common feature of life in Britain - the world’s biggest user of such technology with 4.2 million CCTV cameras in use by public agencies alone.
As well as being fed through facial-recognition and license-place recognition software, images will be available to hundreds of CIA, FBI and TSA officials flying into Britain for the Games, as well as to officers from Interpol.
Jim Seida / NBC News
At least 1,850 security cameras keep watch on the Olympic Park.
Striking a balance between public protection and personal freedoms is increasingly difficult for authorities.
“Of course the Olympics need to be secure but there is a danger of losing sight of all proportion,” Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, told NBCNews.com. "It would be a sad indictment of modern Britain if the lasting legacy of the Games is an unwarranted security and surveillance infrastructure.”
Ettore Ferrari / EPA
London puts in motion the largest peacetime security operation on British soil to ensure a seamless event.
Drones
However, Chris Allison, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, on Tuesday insisted his force would be using “a light touch” in policing the Games – a promise borne out by armed officers posing for tourist pictures. (Officers have also been told not to run in response to emergency calls, to prevent panic among crowds.)
More London 2012 coverage from NBCNews.com
The most contentious measure is the installation of six temporary high-velocity ground-to-air missile sites around East London, including two atop residential apartment blocks in Bow and Waltham Forest. Residents of the latter building lost a legal bid to have the weaponry moved.
Oda / Getty Images
From Wimbledon to Wembley Stadium to The Dome, a look at the venues for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Unmanned drones – smaller, unarmed versions of those used by the U.S. to target Islamist militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan - will float above the venues, monitored by U.K. military commanders.
Helicopter-mounted cameras capable of identifying the color of a suspect's shoelaces on the ground from almost a mile away will also be utilized. The devices feature powerful zoom functions which can even allow airborne officers to see the color of a suspect's eyes on the ground.
Helicopters used by the Air Support Unit of London's Metropolitan Police will be keeping a close watch on potential security threats during this summer's Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the Olympic Games.
For the first time since World War II, Britain’s Ministry of Defence has taken charge of London airspace, working alongside civilian air traffic controllers in Swanick, near Southampton, to ensure only aircraft with pre-approved flight plans are in the busy skies surrounding the capital’s key airports.
For the duration of the games, all airspace around the city is either restricted to pre-authorized private or commercial flight – or prohibited altogether.
33 Team USA athletes to watch in London
Four Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets on standby are prepared to intercept aircraft flouting the restrictions and use "lethal force" if necessary. Paul Haskins, general manager of London Terminal Control at air traffic control agency, NATS, told NBC News: “If an aircraft has not spoken to an air traffic controller for a long time and its coming a concern to ourselves and the military, various different methods will be used to communicate with that aircraft but if all those fail than an intercept will be provided by the military to ascertain exactly what is going on, on that flight.”
Following the admission by a security firm that it will not be able to provide enough manpower to secure the Olympic Games, military personnel are now gearing up to fill the open positions. NBC News terrorism analyst Roger Cressey weighs in on how this will impact security with less than two weeks to go before the Games.
Britain's biggest warship, HMS Ocean, is also stationed on the River Thames, while Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Mounts Bay will be stationed near Weymouth, Dorset, where Olympic sailing events are taking place. Six helicopters - three Royal Navy Sea Kings and three RAF Pumas – complete the armory.
Despite the firepower, military officials want to downplay their presence. "We want the focus to be on [Jamaican sprinter] Usain Bolt this summer and not us," Air Vice-Marshal Stuart Atha told reporters in May.
For 1st time, women from every nation ready to rock the Olympics
Security has been a fundamental issue for the London Games, literally from day one: the morning after the U.K. capital was named host city in 2005, a co-ordinated attack on buses and underground trains killed dozens in an atrocity referred to in Britain as 7/7.
East London, which will host the Olympic Games, boasts a colorful history. NBC News' Jim Maceda reports.
Britain was America's closest ally in Afghanistan and Iraq, making it a prime target of Islamist terror groups. And dozens of recent terror plots, including the 2006 plot to blow up nearly a dozen trans-Atlantic airliners, have been hatched within Britain's sizeable Muslim population.
'Tumultuous world'
Although other Olympics have taken place since 9/11 - Salt Lake City, Athens, Turin, Beijing and Vancouver - London offers a different breed of security challenge.
This family's Olympic odyssey includes bikes, a satellite dish -- and reindeer pelts
Many events are taking place at venues as far away as Scotland, creating a further security risk – that terrorists could avoid locked-down London and choose less high-profile targets instead.
"I'm confident that there is more than adequate security here for these games," Louis Susman, the U.S. ambassador to the U.K., told The Associated Press. "That said, we live in a tumultuous world, whether that be in New York or London."
Britain’s terror level is currently labeled ‘Substantial’ - a notch below ‘Severe’, which has been the level for much of the past decade. A ‘Substantial’ threat level indicates an attack is a strong possibility.
A cadre of bomb-sniffing dogs gets set to sniff out threats at the 2012 London Olympics alongside the tens of thousands of two-legged security personnel preparing to make the city safe for the summer games. Msnbc.com's F. Brinley Bruton reports.
Despite the U.S.-U.K. collaboration, there will still be differences in how the London Olympics is policed. Most of the security personnel will be unarmed - a striking difference to operations in the United States.
Adding to security issues, leaders from around the world will be in town. The American delegation will be led by first lady Michelle Obama while President Barack Obama focuses on his re-election campaign.
London Olympics: 8,000-mile torch relay around UK
So far, the biggest wobble came earlier this month when private security contractor, G4S, admitted it would not be able to meet its target to supply the required number of civilian security workers – mostly because of the time taken to complete vetting checks of employment history and possible criminal backgrounds.
An actor from gangster movie "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" is giving walking tours of old underworld haunts in East London, where this month's Olympic Games are being held. NBC's Theresa Cook reports.
That story, first reported by NBC News’ Keir Simmons, prompted the government to summon 3,500 troops above the original 7,500 estimate. On Tuesday, the government announced a further 1,200 would be called in to guard against any possible security staff shortfall. The extra troops, many of them called back from leave after serving in Afghanistan, are being housed in two temporary camps: One in a park near Hainault and another in Tobacco Dock, an empty commercial building in Wapping, near the Tower of London.
However, officials on both sides of the Atlantic remain confident. London's mayor, Boris Johnson, told Matt Lauer on TODAY on Wednesday: “The venues are as safe as we can make them. Politicians can never say the whole thing is 100 percent nailed down."
"The intelligence we’re getting is that the overall risk is being downgraded from severe to substantial, and the London Olympics will be as safe as any games has ever been,” he added.
"I've not heard any American who has said they were concerned about security here," said Susman, the ambassador. "London has made an effort to showcase London for the world and I think it's going to be terrific."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More world stories from NBC News:
- Spain teeters on the edge of a steep 'fiscal cliff'
- Going for gold: British workers cash in on Olympics with strike threats
- Ice melt found across 97 percent of Greenland, satellites show
- Afghan police commander leads defection to Taliban
- After Hong Kong weathers typhoon, anger roils over Beijing flood deaths
- This family's Olympic odyssey includes bikes, satellite dish, reindeer pelts
- In Kenya, cell phones can do everything
Follow World News on NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
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A diverse community in East London will welcome the world to Britain for the 2012 Olympic Games. Meet residents and hear how they feel about having a huge, world stage in their backyard.
Leave a Comment:
This whole Olymoics BS, is a sick joke on the tax payers. I wouldn't attend an event if you paid me $1000. Any country that hosts these games, steals from their respective populations. What a CON! And the people cheer it, while the rich get the gains.
The Olympics are still for the athletes and their sense of Nationalism----it is called "competing against each other"-----it's purpose is to compete against each other in sports rather than in wars!!!
Heaveto..The Olympics are to make MONEY! If they lost money, they wouldn't exhist. Wake up!!! The athletes get a small crumb that falls from the table, just like college football....no different.
The problem.....everybody wants to rule the world!
To those of you who are making disparaging remarks about the security, and noting that "the terrorists have won", "paranoia", "fear driven people" etc., you are completely off base. The US is A "Johnny-Come-Lately" as regards terrorism; the UK has been combating ter...rorism in some way for over 40 years (IRA, Islamic, and other nut cases), and have some of the best anit-terrorism units in the world...the Israelis even use many traaining and operational techniques developed by the S.A.S. Given past experience, it is highly likely that some terrorist group has thought about disrupting the games, and it is only prudent that a host nation such as the UK should adequately prepare. Hopefully the preparations are enough to deter the idiots, but if not it is good to know that the UK is ready, willing and more than able to deal with them swiftly and effectively. Any terrorsts looking to cause trouble would be well advised to remember the "Princess Gate" seige of 1980. The S.A.S. is not in the business of taking prisoners and "bringing the terrorists to justice". Justice for them comes in the form of a chest full of sub-machine gun bullets, and they are more than willing to oblige the terrorists' in their desire to become martyers.
The security would ruin it for me. Glad im not there. Some security is good, a fortress is ridiculous. And no im not afraid of terrorists or potential massacres.
Muslims are lead by the quran and as they like to tell you,they are peaceable but you need to read the jacka$$ book..All infidels are to be changed to islam,everyone.There are NO GOOD MUSLIMS!! They have not moved to all these countries to escape their lives since they brought their religion with them..they have moved to bring us down from within..So,get a grip, you ostriches with your heads in the sand,you'll be fighting them,too!!! People should have stopped these nut cases years ago because the quran has always used extreme violence on people, with the force of join us or the sword will do the job..Keep on living in your la-la lands!!
I'm confused by sissy European liberals and a Greek athlete who was banned from the Olympics for this "racist" comment:
Commenting on the widely reported appearance of Nile-virus-carrying mosquitoes in Athens, Papachristou wrote: ''With so many Africans in Greece, the West Nile mosquitoes will be getting home food!!!''
So West Nile is allegedly from Africa, and there are many Africans in Greece, and so the West Nile mosquitoes are getting "home food", get it, the humans they bite are the same as back home.
Where's the racism? Just because they're black, it's racist?
You have your 4 year dream of competing for a gold medal wiped out because you said West Nile mosquitoes consider people from near the West Nile to be "home food"?
Liberal insanity at its finest.
Hey, Freedom--you sound real tough on here but if you have ever been caught in the crossfire you would be a big chicken scared pile of rubble..Not afraid of terrorist--is it because you are associated with them?? Either that or you are extremely dumb!! Ask all the soldiers that have fought with these animals!! Go take your meds!!!
Ive been in combat.. Have you?
On Xbox doesn't count, Freedom.
You go Brits!! And all the other countries need to send all these people packing back to where they came from..Sick of hearing about racism---need to just have common sense..Sam put it right on the nail-muzzies are not happy anywhere because their mentality does not allow them to be happy-they're too busy trying to bring down the world..
How long are we going to continue to allow a group that claims religious affiliation kill? Or countries that support them? As I understand it, either we have to embrace their religion or eradicate them to stop the murder. Demand accepted.
Yes, I have and I am scared because I am one person,not ready to take on a group of them.Are you Superman?? I applaud you if you are!
Crazy, hope everything goes well , and people focus on the events.
It is a very scary time to have the Olympics. The crazy people think that it is their religion and their destiny to kill people....any people. Authorities in England would have to be absolutely stupid to not take this threat seriously. It is not like it has not happened before...If the crazy people succeed, this will be the last world Olympics. It is amazing that some people find fault with everyone except the killers.
When I hear about the British and America fears of terrorist attacks Karma comes to mind , Yes I know its in the past but I stiil think about how the Brits have treated those who lived under their rule .
How many people in India died due to British arrogance , how many Irish suffured and died under British occupation ? What made the British morality right in the Zulu wars
And in America how many natives lost their lives because of the British occupation of America .
Just because it in the past doesn't make it right , don't agree then argue it out with a jew about the events of WW2 . That too is in the past but still an issue to many who suffered under western white mans thumb
. Don't want people trying to kill you all the time then don't kill them for your special intrests , don't support monarch/dictators that kill their own for pounds and dollars , Does the Shaw come to mind?
Seems....So, we all deserve to be killed because of history??? It is people with your mentality who guarantee that there will never be world peace. It(and you) are beyond hope...Your answer is that people deserve to die because of what happened 50, 100, 150, 300, 1000, 1500, 2000, or three thousand years ago. In history war and occupation was a constant. Things have gotten better, but there are always those(you?) who want to keep those hatreds going....and kill people...There is always an excuse and there are always people to hate.
Lemmie just say: "Don't try to confuse the ignoramouses in Cyberspace with the facts. You'll lose everytime!
Nace try, anywho!
Lets be real all they did is put machine guns in a bunch of brit's hands and said look tough! The security company and in less then 24 hrs there is a security plan as of the likes of world war 2 in place, what a farce! So the UK paid hundreds of millions of dollars to private security agencies to protect the Olympics and there was years of planning but the British government can move in take over and have everything under control in less than 24 hrs give me a break your liars or just laundered all that money to those "private" security companies so which 1?
Do we need Olympics like this? It is o@!$%#ge intuitive.
May be UK is not right venue.
We need to give lot sof thought to thes kind of public things hijaked to militray garrison
very sad
Needed to be done anyway. The Olympics just got things moving quicker. Can't have all these unwashed British subjects just roaming around at will inconveniencing Ramadahn festivities.
You don't think the resusitated British 'colonists' who murdered and maimed their way into over throwing Libya, the richest and most progressive country on the African continent, to steal their oil - a place where the al-Qaeda terrorists continue to murder, kidnap, torture, loot and abuse the people of Libya as we speak. HELL YES, the Limie bastards better have soldiers on every street corner 24/7 because the ghost of Gaddafi has BIG plans to repaint Londen a crimsen red.
Hey,AZCowBoy, you sound pretty muzzie to me..Those "Limie bastards" are our allies,maybe you're not??Like Gaddafi was a saint?? Are you on drugs?? Maybe you need to be..Are you a threat to people,saying London will be a "crimsen red"?? You need to take on the illegal immigrants in your state and not worry about what goes on in London!!
Yer right Pilgrim: "Them United Snakes (ISRAEL/NATO) are our allies. That's why WTC -1 came to NYC and why WTC II is coming to London!
Illegal's? Where's your green card gringo?!!
As I have said on other threads--drop pig's blood on the muslims while they are praying,holding up traffic and creating chaos..They will scream and hiss and run for cover and you won't see them outside for a while...That should take care of a week's worth of security!!!
Well, it's kosher pigs blood they're after dearie!
I really don't know why anyone would want to go to the Olympics....to be surrounded by armed guards, barbed wire and fences and be treated by security people as a potential criminal....no thanks.
Is all this security really necessary? And what about the Olympics' long list of sponsors including companies such as Dow Chemicals and BP, whose human rights records are at odds with the Olympic ideals of global peace and goodwill? To hear more about this, I'd recommend checking out Democracy Now! today, they're talking with Jules Boykoff, an associate professor of political science at Pacific University and currently a visiting scholar at the University of Brighton. He has been in England since April following the build up to the Olympics. He played for the US Olympic soccer team in international competition from 1989-1991. He has a piece in the New York Times called, "Olympian Arrogance" and he's writing a book on dissent and the Olympics. Check it out:
Hey, in the Olympics the bankrupt United Snakes (US/Israel/NATO) oil thieves and resusitated colonist terrorsts are exempt from International Law, The Nuremburg Protocols and the UN Charter - didntjaknow that? Of course, the Muslim Terrorists are not exempted from anything. But, the Jewish Bible Demons even have Senior Jew 'butt sniffer' Costas giving the Jewish bastards a 'minute of silence' for the Palestinian Munich pinata party in 1962 - and the Palestiniang get a 'stiff middle finger' from Costas for complaining about the Jewish massacres during Israel's Cast Lead Gaza Operation, 12/2008.
Better a fortress than another 911.
And all this because of the garbage called islam
Yassar Timmer2, the murderous thugs (aka: The United Snakes of the US/Israel/NATO). I mean, if the United Snakes weren't on somneone elses turf 24/7 trying to steal the oil, murdering civilians and pillaging their lands - Hell, no one would even know who they were. (Read the Internet everyday Pilgrim and you will make wiser posts in the future, K?).
Yup, the life of a war criminal is constantly looking back over your shoulder to see of those you have murdered, maimed, torture, abused and/or stolen their oil (Libya, of late) aren't gaining on you, huh? Well, let's hope that in the end (Excuse the pun) 'Justice' prevails and that a couple of well paced IED's in the queens box (The one she's sitting on silly - Oh well, you know what I mean, LOL) goes KA-BOOOOM thus serving to remind the Limie's, aka: Terrorists/blood's that 'Crime doesn't pay' or does it?
end the olympics stop the farce.....the love isn't there