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U.S. Response I: U.S. Plans Heightened Security for Olympics Officials have increased security for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, including plans to protect against bioterrorism, at a total cost of $310 million, according to reports on Sunday and yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 11). Mail delivery will be almost eliminated because of the anthrax incidents involving the U.S. postal system, the Boston Globe reported (see related GSN story, today). Olympics planners have also stockpiled Cipro, the main drug used to combat anthrax, and installed air filters to detect biological attacks (Lynda Gorov, Boston Globe, Jan. 20). The U.S. Secret Service and FBI have also increased security at an army depot that houses chemical weapons about 40 miles southwest of Salt Lake City (see GSN, Jan. 8). Other security measures will include: * Almost 300 surveillance cameras that can magnify an image 184 times so they can read an Olympics credential 10 football fields away; * Increased security for vendors, including limiting deliveries to early mornings; * A ban on handbags larger than a purse; * Tightened security around the Mormon Temple (AAP Newsfeed, Jan. 21); * Federal agents monitoring slopes on skis, snowshoes and snowmobiles; * 2,000 Utah National Guard members patrolling the streets with rifles; * Surveillance planes flying overhead and F-16 fighter jets on alert; * A ban on all air traffic for 45 miles around the site during the opening and closing ceremonies; * 10,000 law enforcement and emergency response agents working during the Olympics; and * Concrete barriers and razor-wire fences around venues and the Olympic village. The Olympics, which last from Feb. 8-24, will be the first conducted under an overall security plan developed by the U.S. Secret Service and coordinated with 80 agencies. The FBI will be responsible for crisis management, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be in charge of emergency response. Security efforts will consume $235 million of the U.S. federal government’s $600 million contribution to the Olympics and $310 million of the total $1.3 billion Olympics budget. “Every aspect of terrorism has been addressed. I believe people will be safe. But in a world of terrorism, we live with a degree of risk which is impossible to know for certain,” said Mitt Romney, president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. “The days of attracting thousands of people to an event like this without additional security are over. We’re trying not to turn it into a security event, but it’s hard to avoid,” said Robert Flowers, Utah public safety commissioner (Gorov, Boston Globe, Jan. 20). “This will be among the most secured places in the world,” said Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt (AAP Newsfeed, Jan. 21).
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