London: The Inclusive Olympiad
The security fence © Mike Wells: .
“...the Olympic Park, venues and infrastructure for the London 2012 Games will be the most inclusive and accessible to date. The ODA has published its Inclusive Design Strategy which sets out the framework for how the Olympic Park will be designed and constructed to be inclusive for people of all cultures, faiths and ages, and accessible to disabled people.”
From: The Olympic Delivery Authority
The aesthetically pleasing wire and mesh 5,000 volt electric security fence must be part of that inclusive design. Also adding to the feeling of inclusiveness there will be guards with attack dogs, facial recognition and finger print technology. A computerized monitoring system is planned to integrate all of London's CCTV cameras. A scheme to search people and vehicles will include machines capable of looking through clothing. While in the air the RAF will deploy its Reaper pilotless drone aircraft, which will carry laser-guided bombs and missiles including the Hellfire air-to-ground weapon as used against Taliban forces in Afghanistan. And on the Thames, the Royal Navy will deploy its new £1 billion Daring class of Type 45 destroyer. These are fitted with missile systems able to shoot down a target the size of a cricket ball.
London 2012 is beginning to look less like a party and more like a military garrison.
Mike Wells
Submitted by Martin Slavin on Thu, 21/05/2009 - 11:58.
Is this Baghdad "new" green zone ?
Submitted by Mass A. (not verified) on Tue, 09/06/2009 - 22:09.
The Killer Drone's Afghani Hive
http://subtopia.blogspot.com/2008/11/killer-drones-afghani-hive.html
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Other security stories
An Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) spokesman confirmed that the access control contract - including the biometric technology for face and handprint recognition - was still being procured with a contract award due in spring before implementation this summer. Thousands of construction workers are already on the job and work has just got underway on the phased building of a "ring of steel" fence around the Olympic Park.
The timing of the security contracts has worried Olympic observers. One said: "I'm sure the plan was to have the hi-tech access control in place before the workforce grew to this size. "There was a lot of talk about the latest technology, but at the moment it's little more than checking a few documents and a gang of security guards patrolling the site."
Construction workers are currently being checked with an interim automated system, which checks CSCS accreditation and immigration status with the UK Border Agency. A contract to separately screen and search people and vehicles is currently out to tender and will be operational by the summer. Contracts for CCTV monitoring and intruder detection along the perimeter fences will be awarded this spring.
More at: Olympic park security plans still out to tender, Grant Prior, Contract Journal, 4 Feb 2009 ,
AN ARMY of 10,000 volunteer police officers with the power of arrest will help the Met guard the 2012 London Olympics. Mayor Boris Johnson will today pledge £32million for a huge increase in the number of special constables on patrol during the Games.
About 700 "specials" have already been recruited in the last year, taking the number in London to 2,600. The new officers' duties will include stop and search, foot and vehicle patrols and house-to-house inquiries. They will be part of the £1billion Olympic policing operation, with 5,000 officers working on event days to ensure the smooth running of the Games.
More at:Mayor Boris to flood capital with Olympic army of 10,000 police specials, Katharine Barney, Evening Standard, 27.03.09
Olympic bosses are making firms sign contracts which prevent them talking publicly about all details of the work for six years. If a leak is suspected the contract allows the Olympic Delivery Authority to search a firm's premises and emails. The authority said the contracts were a standard confidentiality agreement.
But BBC London's Olympics Correspondent Adrian Warner said: "The companies I have talked to are shocked they have to sign a document which effectively allows 2012 to walk into their premises and start searching them.
"Legal experts have told me these contracts are draconian." BBC London has seen the gagging orders which have been in place for at least six months. The six-year ban on disclosing information is regarded as being particularly long.
More at: Games firms sign gagging orders, Adrian Warner, BBC News, 26 Jan, 2009