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| Europe |
| Olympic security fiasco |
| 2004-08-05 |
| Ten days before the Olympic Games start in Athens, passes allowing vehicles into several venues, including the Olympic village, have been stolen. A security source told the Telegraph that the passes were taken from the windscreens of unattended official vehicles. Genius. But it gets better! According to sources in Athoc, the games have been hit by another security failure, after plans to check the backgrounds of staff, contractors and volunteers were dropped as organisers ran out of time. The problems began in mid-May, when organisers began recruiting 7,000 workers to undertake jobs from general receptionists to housekeepers at the Olympic village. With so many people to process in only three months, the planned background checks were scrapped. This sounds like the makings of a secure situation... Now thousands of staff and contractors with unverified histories are moving freely around supposedly secure venues because formal accreditation passes, bearing photos of the holder, have still not been issued. Instead, Athoc is relying on so-called "bump-in" passes, which are handwritten and issued without photographs or background checks. The accreditation problem is so worrying that police and soldiers guarding some venues are now asking workers for a passport or other documents to supplement the inadequate passes. Unbelievable. I'll be watching from my couch, thanks. |
| Posted by:someone |
| #8 The problems began in mid-May, when organisers began recruiting 7,000 workers to undertake jobs from general receptionists to housekeepers at the Olympic village. Let's do the math: Mid-May to August = 3 1/2 months - 14 weeks - 70 business days 7,000 applicants in 70 days = 100 background checks a day, not including disqualifications and verification follow-ups. The actual figure is probably closer to 120 CHECKS PER DAY. Now, consider that they needed 7,000 people and, more likely, some 14,000 applied for these jobs. That would suddenly double the figure of merit to 240 CHECKS PER DAY. That's processing over 30 PER HOUR or ONE BACKGROUND CHECK EVERY TWO MINUTES, by a staff of how many? Whoever approved that optimistic completion schedule should be out on a street corner with a tin cup. They have effectively put in danger the lives of everyone attending the Olympics. In light of the extensive preparations required by an Olympic event, all of this was directly foreseeable. This is the exact opposite of rocket science. Any good police detective would have laughed out loud at such a throughput projection. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-08-05 4:47:57 PM |
| #7 MARK! 20040805104756Z |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-08-05 4:28:18 PM |
| #6 I hope zero is right, Aris. I've hated the politicization of the Olympics throught modern history - it's the one international event that truly deserves to be cleaned up and taken off the political table. [/idealistic foolishness] |
| Posted by: .com 2004-08-05 3:47:56 PM |
| #5 I'm betting on zero casualties. Not because of any security measures or lack thereof, but because I don't see the politics involved as favouring an Islamofascist attack in this place and time. Most of my optimistic predictions have failed me in the past, ofcourse -- the pessimistic ones are the ones that tend to come true. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-08-05 3:34:46 PM |
| #4 It's clearly in bad taste, but should we ape an old Marc Herold midwife effort and do an 'Athens Body Count' / Rantburg Future on the over / under? The only thing in question now is the actual number. |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-08-05 3:01:45 PM |
| #3 Uh oh... I thought it looked like the bad guyz were giving Athens a pass, in spite of the possibilities. Duh. Wishful thinking. This be very very bad. The stolen passes are one thing - one that could have been solved by re-issuing passes distinctly different from the old ones. But if they haven't been doing background checks anyway, hell, all bets are off. I echo Franks' reaction: unfuckingbelievable. So much for security. I don't wonder if some group will try an attack, now, I only wonder how many groups will do so. This is a major disaster in the making. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-08-05 2:51:19 PM |
| #2 unbelievable! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-08-05 2:42:00 PM |
| #1 Throw in a strike and a few thousand phones not working, and we have, as Gunny Highway would so eloquently call it, a genuine clusterfuck in the making. Thanks, Athens! |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-08-05 2:40:37 PM |