Every four years the host of the Summer Olympic games has to develop a security plan for the thousands of visitors planning to pile into the host country. This year’s host, London, England, has a plan straight out of a James Bond film.
Spy planes, helicopters with snipers, the biggest warship in the Royal Navy’s fleet, state-of-the-art radar systems/security cameras, and don’t forget the surface-to-air missiles on the rooftops of civilian apartment buildings.
“This is the biggest sporting event in the world, and with that comes the huge responsibility to deliver it safely and securely,” British government’s minister for crime and security James Brokenshire said in a statement obtained by the latimes.com. “It will require a big operation from the U.K. police, supported by the military.”
That “big” operation will consist of 13,500 ground troops backed by more than 20,000 guards, with an extra 9,500 police officers on peak days.
But many residents have a problem with this plan, claiming it will turn London into a militarized zone of sorts.
“What happens if the missiles become a target and terrorist try to take the tower block out by exploding them?” asked Flash Bristow, chairwoman of a nearby residents association. “The trouble is that we just don’t know what’s going on. All that people have got is their imagination.”
Let’s not forget the hefty price tag. Security alone is at $875 million. The soaring cost of security has pushed the overall Olympic budget from under $4 billion to $15 billion during hard economic times in Europe.