The Home Office has published the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic safety & security strategy. This is a revision of the document first published in July 2009 and it “sets out the vision, aim, and objectives for a single Olympic and Paralympic safety and security strategy for the government, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), the police service and all other key delivery agencies”.
The 23-page document outlines the threats and risks which the government believes face the Games. It also defines the programme structure for safety and security and sets out roles and responsibilities for various agencies including the Home Office, police, London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) and other agencies.
The Olympic Strategic Threat Assessment (OSTA) believes the threats and hazards which may jeopardise the safety and security of the Games are broadly:
- terrorism
- serious crime
- domestic extremism and public disorder
- natural hazards.
According to the document, planning assumptions around security and safety include the fact that terrorism is the greatest threat but that the Games will go ahead “in almost any circumstances”.
The British Security Industry Authority (BSIA) was involved in the planning. Its dedicated project director for the Olympics, David Evans, said, “This strategy demonstrates the maturity of the work that has been put into developing the document since its previous publication. The revised strategy takes into account additional areas of security concern, such as parallel events, and gives more detail on other areas such as transport and borders and a more detailed governance.”
More information
Home Office London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic safety & security strategy.
London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic safety & security strategy – (PDF file – 644kb).
