Security organisers at last February's Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City were entrusted with protecting 2,500 athletes from more than 80 nations – not to mention the small matter of around 70,000 daily visitors.
In reacting to the substantial terrorist threat, the cost of securing the Games escalated quite considerably. In terms of security personnel, it's reported that nearly 13,000 security officers were drafted in to protect the athletes alone. An extra $40 million is said to have been spent on security, pushing the total cost to a cool $300 million.
Yet, with world attention focused on Salt Lake, and inestimable national pride at stake, security officials were understandably conscious of more events than solely the recent atrocities. Olympic Games security first became an issue three decades before following the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Games by a faction from Palestinian Black September. Then there was the pipe bombing at the Atlanta Games back in 1996, when one person was killed and over 100 injured.
CCTV-based surveillance
Over a year ago now, the first of around 500 fixed and programmable CCTV cameras was installed at the 380-acre Utah Olympic Park to watch over the bobsleigh and luge racetrack.
Live security and video information from all of the cameras monitoring the 14 key Games sites at Salt Lake was fed back to a central Utah Public Safety Command (UPSC) Co-Ordination Centre, as well as a Federal Bureau of Investigation monitoring centre in Washington DC. Sites being monitored included the 57,500-capacity Rice-Eccles Olympic Stadium (host to the key Games ceremonies), the 20,000-capacity Deer Valley Resort (where slalom, snowboarding parallel and snowboarding halfpipe events took place) and the 23,500 seater Snowbasin ski arena – host to the downhill, combined downhill/slalom and Super-G competitions.
Speaking exclusively to SMT about the Games' security provisions, Louis Chiera – director of Olympic marketing for official electronic security sponsor Sensormatic – said: "For this Games, we installed what was one of the most extensive video surveillance installations over fibre optic networks for any sporting event ever staged worldwide."
In addition to the outdoor cameras that were able to zoom in on and monitor objects from 1,500 feet away by magnifying a given image up to 176 times, digital recording and transmission equipment was also used to bring back live signals to the UPSC Co-Ordination Centre. Some of the cameras also assisted with the logistics involved in running such a large-scale event. For instance, cameras were strategically placed at the Utah Olympic Park to identify when a track or ski area was clear for the next participant.
Another technology sponsor – Lucent Technologies – provided the fibre optic network to allow these images to be viewed at command centres monitoring activity around the clock. The cameras themselves had to be fitted with special built-in heaters and defrosting equipment to cope with the extreme temperatures.
"Although primarily designed for security purposes," added Louis Chiera, "the installed video surveillance technology enabled operators to see and decide if it was safe for the next athlete to tackle the course. If there was a problem on a given corner or curve, the organisers could then pinpoint exactly where the incident occurred, and summon medical personnel far more quickly."
The Olympic Village
In the Olympic Village, more than 90 cameras were linked to over two miles of electronic sensor fencing and alarm panels (set up to trigger observation of a particular area, record the scene automatically and alert security personnel of attempts to penetrate the perimeter).
In reacting to the substantial terrorist threat, the cost of securing the Winter Olympic Games escalated quite considerably. Nearly 13,000 security officers were drafted-in to protect the athletes alone
Meanwhile, spectators at the various venues were also scanned, searched and x-rayed. Garrett Metal Detectors deployed 500 of its MagnaScanner PD 6500 and CS 5000 walk-through metal detectors, 425 hand-held Super Scanner and Super Wand devices and ten ground-searching metal detectors at all venues (in addition to the downtown Salt Lake Olympic Square, fenced-in area containing retail stores, the main Media Centre, an ice figure skating venue and the medals plaza). Garrett staff also trained the Games security officials in checkpoint security screening methods to ensure the crowds flowed smoothly while they operated the equipment to detect weapons such as guns and knives.
Biometrics also played their part in securing the Winter Olympic Games. One access control installation made use of a facial recognition system provided by AcSys Biometrics Corp to help protect the athletes' medals in manufacturer OC Tanner's safe. Anyone approaching the company's vault area was required to stand in front of a programmable dome camera linked to a digital video recorder. Their image was then compared with a database of authorised staff to ensure a match before access was granted.
Combating retail theft
Over in the retail stores, anti-shoplifting devices helped keep official Olympic merchandise out of thieves' hands. Non-washable ink tags were attached to specific goods in the Spirit stores, although in the Superstore only video surveillance was used to monitor the cash registers and exits.
When dealing with large customer volumes, some retail operators have concerns about the potential effect of Electronic Article Surveillance tagging on the checkout flow process.
In the lead-up to the Salt Lake City Games, the spectre of a similar security incident to the Atlanta pipe bomb explosion six years ago was tangible. "The (Centennial Olympic Park) incident in Atlanta definitely heightened everyone's awareness to the terrorist threat," said Sensormatic's Louis Chiera.
Lessons to be learned
"The first and most important lesson is to understand that your technology is designed to assist people as an additional deterrent or electronic barrier, and to help prevent unauthorised people from entering areas. It's never going to be a cure-all for stopping everything though," added Chiera.
Passed for press: securing the Winter Olympic Games Media Centre
More than 10,000 journalists from around the globe converged on the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games, all of them blazing a trail to the Salt Palace Convention Centre – the main Media Centre for the event. In line with all the venues, security here had to be spot on. An analogue CCTV system was already in place, but network-based Axis cameras and video servers were subsequently specified. The digital video servers acted to convert incoming analogue video feeds from the existing cameras into a digital format, allowing the dedicated security staff to view all the images from on or off-site. The recording system was also extended by way of software that can illuminate pictures taken in the dark. Infrared was used to pick out, for example, suspicious car number plates. Unlike cameras used in CCTV systems that require special cabling infrastructures, network cameras plug directly into existing data networks, rendering images accessible to the appropriate people – including those at remote sites. In practise, the video servers digitise all images produced by the analogue cameras, allowing the end user to (cost-efficiently) record, transfer and subsequently manage all images.Source
SMT
No comments yet