Pete Fussey and Jon Coaffee.
The relationship between security and mega-events has received much attention in recent years, particularly after 9/11 where fears of no-warning mass casualty attacks perpetrated by international terrorist actors have stimulated ever more detailed and pre-emptive security responses. These approaches to event security are now becoming relatively standardised as a ‘model’ or ‘blueprint’ for reducing vulnerabilities and maximising security at major conferences, cultural festivals and sporting events (inter alia Coaffee and Rogers, 2008). Within this context, this chapter examines the form, function and impact of London’s 2012 security strategy. It identifies and critiques the role of surveillance as one of its central features and examines the security operation’s relationship with prevailing trends evident in previous Olympic and other megasporting event security practices.
Despite their plural and locally grounded nature, Olympic-related threats are often exogenously defined (c.f. Said, 1993) and, in turn, inspire strong continuities and commonalities across Olympic security responses over both time and place. This paper argues that wider shifts towards ‘total’ security models comprising continually reproduced security motifs can be observed. (pdf at opendepot.org)
