Olympic security is the responsibility of the Hellenic Police (Ministry of Public Order) and specifically of the Olympic Games Security Division (OGSD) – a special police unit created for the 2004 Olympic Games that reports directly to the Chief of Police and is staffed by Police, Coast Guard, Fire-Brigade and Defense Forces personnel.
ATHENS 2004 and the OGSD are working with the Olympic Advisory Group (OAG), a seven-nation task force with extensive experience in the security planning of large sport events, including the Olympic Games. The seven nations are Australia, France, Germany, Israel, Spain, the UK and the US. The OAG meets regularly to discuss planning, technology and training issues.
Greece has budgeted US$800 million for Olympic security infrastructure and equipment and assigned some 50,000 security personnel to the games (3 times as many as in Sydney and Salt Lake City).
Greece is receiving counsel by the Olympic Advisory Group, including security experts from US, Israel, Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Australia.
NATO agreed to provide air-cover with AWACS aircrafts during the Games
There are talks between Athens and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for help in detecting and heading off a potential dirty bomb attack. USA provided IAEA with $500,000 for radiation detectors to be used at the Olympic events. Radiation detectors (portable and fixed) will also be installed at several locations, focusing on border crossings.
The Olympic village, the Media villages and the technical officials villages, as well as Olympic Hotels and the Port of Piraeus, where floating hotels will be moored, are accommodation facilities where high- level security measures will be deployed. To this end, an independent Olympic Village Security Command Centre has been planned, equipped with state-of-the-art security systems. The Olympic village in particular, will be surrounded by twin concrete barriers and secured with cameras and X-ray machines.
Special attention is paid to the protection of the Olympic family and the VIPs. The security measures that will be deployed consist of general measures (policing the Olympic road network, venue security and monitoring, capacity to quickly respond to incidents etc), and special measures (close personal protection, site inspections, advance escorts, airspace protection etc)
Traffic management will be conducted at a fully equipped centre, the Traffic Monitoring and Control Operation room, according to a special plan that provides a series of traffic and security measures.
Olympic security planning also includes guarding of vital installations, such as power stations, water works, telecommunications installations, as well as oil and natural gas installations.
Olympic security measures also include:
border surveillance (from land and sea, combining operations of the Defense forces, Coast Guard, Border Guards and Police personnel, increased passport and custom controls),
air space protection (flight safety reinforcement, airspace surveillance, banning flights over specific areas, air medical evacuation, fire–fighting, etc.),
urban domain security (covers the whole of the Greek territory, with emphasis on the Olympic cities),
fire safety (based on special vulnerability and threat assessment studies. The largest ever fighting force is made available, supported by state-of-the-art equipment),
terrorist activities response (a special anti-terrorist plan, a crisis management system, an intelligence network and rapid response units are established, accordingly trained),
CBRN threats response ( a plan for dealing with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats has been developed, with the assistance of experts from countries participating in the Olympic Advisory Group).
The Olympic Intelligence Centre will be the agency for collection, registration, synthesis, analysis, and assessment of Intelligence of Olympic interest, and will be responsible for final threat assessment. It is sharing intelligence with 150 countries and international organizations.
A workforce of 41,000 will be involved in Olympic security, including 21,000 police officers, 3,300 coast guard officers, 1,400 fire corps personnel, 7,000 special forces, 2,800 private companies security personnel, and 5,600 security volunteers. This workforce is trained through programs targeting in different security issues, and provided by experts from the OAG countries. In particular, the US, Britain, France and Spain have trained thousands of Greek police officers in matters of terrorism and explosives. The Israelis have handled training regarding suicide bombers.
The evaluation of security mechanisms will be conducted through exercises, with the participation of all parties and agencies involved. Seven major exercises have already been conducted, as well as a large number of smaller scale exercises.
Two major Olympic security exercises took place from February 6 to 8, and in mid-March. They will be observed by the Olympic Security Group, and will be geared to prevent, among others, an attack by weapons of mass destruction. Both exercises will involve the police, military, health services and other agencies.
Olympic safety planning is supported by state of the art equipment, including border surveillance systems, mobile port facilities surveillance systems, port security systems, mobile crisis management centres, helicopters, aircrafts, high speed water crafts, fire-fighting vessels, physical security systems, traffic police equipment, IT systems, equipment for CBRN threat response etc
The planning described is the result of cooperation with experts in national and international level. The latter includes the National Olympic Committees, the International Olympic Committee, different countries and International Organizations, and particularly the Olympic Advisory Group.
Sources: The Greek Ministry of Public Order / Athens 2004 Organising Committee for the Olympic Games
