February 24, 2005

NEW YORK AND LONDON BATTLE IT OUT FOR 2012 OLYMPICS

London Olympic bid officials promise fair tickets and a surplus

LONDON

Unarmed police, facilities designed with security as a priority and wide experience in counter-terrorism would safeguard a London 2012 Olympics, says the city’s top police officer.

Ian Blair, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said he told the International Olympic Committee’s evaluation commission that Britain’s minimalist, discreet approach to policing was a powerful part of London’s bid.

“I think the Met’s unique combination of experience and doing it in a non-threatening and non-invasive way is a very important point,” said Blair.

Paris, New York, Moscow and Madrid are the other contenders, with the IOC to decide on July 6 in Singapore.

Blair said venue security was estimated to cost $38.4 million (all funds U.S.), which will be paid for by the city of London. All other security would be funded by $320 million contained within the $3.8 billion overall funding package, with the British government picking up any unforeseen extra costs.

London officials used the conversion rate of $1.60 U.S. to the pound in the bid documents, which they said represented the long-term equilibrium exchange rate.

Blair said British police were first involved with Olympic security in 1984, played a significant role in Athens last year, and have long experience in handling large crowds.

Blair said 15,000 police officers would be on duty at any one time during a London Games — 10 per cent of policing in Britain — and would be backed up by 6,000 private security and 10,000 volunteers.

“We have designed the security in from the beginning, which is why you don’t need 80,000 personnel to secure it,” said Blair, comparing London’s planned security force to the number used in Athens.

Inspector Andy Amery, who has worked with the bid committee for two years, said London had an advantage because it could build in security to the planned stadium and village in the proposed Olympic Park site at Stratford, in east London.

“It allows us to design out crime and terrorism and design in safety and security aspects from the outset,” Amery said.

He said early police involvement meant security requirements at the new Wembley Stadium, currently under construction, would be 46 per cent less, despite the venue being 40 per cent larger.

Earlier, London officials promised fairly priced tickets and projected a $160-million surplus, while the Prime Minister’s wife, Cherie Blair, spoke at a legal presentation.

Tony Blair and his political rivals, Conservative leader Michael Howard and Liberal Democrats leader Charles Kennedy, met with the IOC commission at No. 10 Downing Street last Friday afternoon. They then went to Buckingham Palace for a reception hosted by Queen Elizabeth II.

London bid officials said they planned to offer eight million tickets for public sale. Marketing director David Magliano said prices would be fair.

The operational budget for a London Olympic Games Organizing Committee would be $2.5 billion. London 2012 finance director Neil Wood said the overall funding package also included venue construction, Olympic transport infrastructure, security, inflation and contingencies.

“We have no expectation whatsoever that this will go over budget,” Wood said.

The Associated Press

‘It allows us to design out crime and terrorism and design in safety and security aspects from the outset’

Andy Amery

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