Counter-terrorism strategy
Securing the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Acting on behalf of the Home Secretary, the Olympic Security Directorate (OSD) in OSCT is responsible for delivering the Prime Minister’s guarantee to the International Olympic Committee for the safety and peaceful celebration of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Working with a wide range of partners across Government and beyond, our aim is to deliver a safe and secure Games, in keeping with the Olympic culture and spirit.
We recognise the need to strike a balance between effective and visible security and providing a welcoming and friendly atmosphere for all involved in the games.
The security challenge
Ensuring the safety and security of the 2012 Games will be one of the largest, most complex security challenges the UK has ever faced.
The Olympic and Paralympic Games will begin in London on 27th July 2012 and conclude on the 9th September 2012.
We are expecting:
- 250,000 accredited persons (including 14,000 athletes from over 200 participating countries)
- 6000 coaches and officials
- 20,000 media representatives
An estimated 9 million tickets are likely to be sold.
The Olympic and Paralympic Games are centred on the Olympic Park in Stratford, East London and other venues across the capital. Other locations for events across the UK include:
- Essex - cycling
- Weymouth & Portland - sailing
- Hertfordshire - canoeing
- Eton - rowing
Football events will be held in Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, and Wembley.
The Games will raise challenges for public order, crowd management and safety, transport, road traffic, dealing with serious crime, and emergency planning as well as counter-terrorism.
The UK has an excellent track record of regularly hosting and policing major events safely and securely. We shall be building on this expertise, as well as our considerable counter-terrorism capability for the Games.
Who is involved?
Security planning for the Games requires national coordination. We're working closely with a wide range of partners to achieve that aim.
These include:
- the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG)
- the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA)
- the Governement Olympic Executive (GOE)
- other government departments
- police forces
- emergency services
- security agencies
We're also working with local communities, local authorities, police authorities and business as well with international partners.
Safety and security planning
Our safety and security planning is integrated between key delivery partners and takes a risk-based approach.
Planning for security is progressing to schedule within the timescales expected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). We have developed a 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Safety and Security Strategy which was agreed by Ministers in February 2009. Here is the unclassified version of the strategy. We have also produced a short leaflet which summarises our security approach.
This strategy is fully aligned with the refreshed UK counter-terrorism strategy.
Our planning approach to the Games' security is flexible and based on risk, intelligence gathering and regular threat assessments. This will enable us to respond to changes in terrorist methodology and any unexpected events that may occur between now and 2012.
As well as planning for safety of the Games, we are working with the Olympic Delivery Authority to build security into the designs for the Olympic Park and venues.
More information
You can access our Frequently Asked Questions.
To find out more please contact OSD.
