This report concludes that the blame for G4S's failure to come up with the required venue security staff rests firmly and solely with the company itself. A combination of flawed management information and poor communication with applicants and staff mean that G4S senior management had no idea how badly wrong their operation was going until it was too late to retrieve it. G4S continued to give false reassurances, based on poor-quality data, to LOCOG, the Home Office and other partners involved in the operation until a very late stage in the process. G4S should therefore forego its £57 million management fee, to send a strong signal to the British taxpayer, its biggest client in the UK, that it is serious about making good for its mistakes. G4S should also make ex gratia payments by way of apology to those applicants who successfully completed the training and accreditation process but were not scheduled for work because of their management's failings. The Committee also recommended that, for future major events, armed forces personnel should be considered as possible security providers from the outset, rather than just a backup, with appropriate recognition and reward for the personnel concerned. The Government should also maintain a central register of high-risk companies who have failed in the delivery of public services, to inform future procurement decisions

To assist Greece in securing the 2004 Olympic Games, U.S. gov¿t. agencies provided training and other support in the 4 years leading up to the Games. Also, the U.S. gov¿t. provided some security and other assistance to Amer. athletes, spectators, and commercial investors, and expects to continue such support for future Olympics. This report: (1) determines the U.S. approach and coordination efforts for providing security assistance to the 2004 Summer Olympics; (2) examines the roles of U.S. agencies in Athens Olympics security and their financial outlays; and (3) reviews lessons learned in providing security assistance in support of the Olympics and how they are being incorporated into preparations for future Olympics. Illustrations.

Drawing on new archival documents and interviews, this book demonstrates the evolving role of international politics in Olympic security planning. Olympic security concerns changed forever following the terrorist attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) choice to ignore security after the attack in Munich left individual Olympic Games Organizing Committees to organize, fund, and provide security for the major international event. Future Olympic hosts planned security amidst increasing numbers of international terrorist attacks, and with the Cold War in full swing. For some Olympic hosts, Olympic security now represented their nation’s largest ever military operations. By the time the IOC made security more of a priority in the early 1980s, the trends in Olympic security were set for the future.

This book explores the processes by which, in the 20 years after 9/11, the practices of urban security and counter-terrorism have impacted the everyday experiences of the Western city. Highlighting the localised urban responses to new security challenges, it reflects critically upon the historical trajectory of techniques of territorialisation and physical protection, urban surveillance and the increasing need for cities to enhance resilience and prepare for anticipated future attacks and unpacks the practices and impacts of the intensification of recent urban security practices in the name of countering terrorism. Drawing on over 25 years of research and practical experience, the author utilises a range of international case studies, framed by conceptual ideas drawn from critical security, political and geographical theory. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of politics, war studies, urban studies, geography, sociology, criminology, and the growing market of security and resilience professionals, as well as non-academic audiences seeking to understand responses to terrorist risk.

Olympic Games are sold to host city populations on the basis of legacy commitments that incorporate aid for the young and the poor. Yet little is known about the realities of marginalized young people living in host cities. Do they benefit from social housing and employment opportunities? Or do they fall victim to increased policing and evaporating social assistance? This book answers these questions through an original ethnographic study of young people living in the shadow of Vancouver 2010 and London 2012. Setting qualitative research alongside critical analysis of policy documents, bidding reports and media accounts, this study explores the tension between promises made and lived reality. Its eight chapters offer a rich and complex account of marginalized young people’s experiences as they navigate the possibilities and contradictions of living in an Olympic host city. Their stories illustrate the limits to the promises made by Olympic bidding and organizing committees and raise important questions about the ethics of public funding for such mega‐events. This book will be fascinating reading for anyone interested in the Olympics, sport and social exclusion, and sport and politics, as well as for those working in the fields of youth studies, social policy and urban studies.

Often seen as the host nation's largest ever logistical undertaking, accommodating the Olympics and its attendant security infrastructure brings seismic changes to both the physical and social geography of its destination. Since 1976, the defence of the spectacle has become the central feature of its planning, one that has assumed even greater prominence following the bombing of the 1996 Atlanta Games and, most importantly, 9/11. Indeed, the quintupled cost of securing the first post-9/11 summer Games in Athens demonstrates the considerable scale and complexity currently implicated in these operations. Such costs are not only fiscal. The Games stimulate a tidal wave of redevelopment ushering in new gentrified urban settings and an associated investment that may or may not soak through to the incumbent community. Given the unusual step of developing London's Olympic Park in the heart of an existing urban milieu and the stated commitments to 'community development' and 'legacy', these constitute particularly acute issues for the 2012 Games. In addition to sealing the Olympic Park from perceived threats, 2012 security operations have also harnessed the administrative criminological staples of community safety and crime reduction to generate an ordered space in the surrounding areas. Of central importance here are the issues of citizenship, engagement and access in urban spaces redeveloped upon the themes of security and commerce. Through analyzing the social and community impact of the 2012 Games and its security operation on East London, this book concludes by considering the key debates as to whether utopian visions of legacy can be sustained given the demands of providing a global securitized event of the magnitude of the modern Olympics.

About the Book : - The Commonwealth Games hold out many promises they will firmly establish Delhi's identity as a global city, promote sports among Indians, create job opportunities, increase tourism . . . But what is the reality behind these claims? Come October, when India hosts the Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi, the country will unite in celebrating the biggest sports extravaganza in its history. The whole nation will share the emotions of sportspersons in their moments of triumph and failure during these twelve exciting days. The Games will impact on many different aspects of our lives, and the buzz has already begun. The book lays bare Delhi's level of preparedness for the Commonwealth Games 2010 by analyzing important indicators including the physical infrastructure, tourism, security arrangements, the creation of employment and the impact on the environment. Extensively researched, it provides readers with an interpretative and insightful account of the various aspects related to the Games from sports legacy to corporate sponsorship; from the socio-cultural impact of the Games to their effect on employment. The book also includes a survey of over 5,000 employers across the country on the long- and short-term impact that the Games will have on work opportunities in India.

This new textbook gathers an international roster of top security studies scholars to provide an overview of Asia-Pacific’s international relations and pressing contemporary security issues. It is a suitable introduction for undergraduate and masters students' use in international relations and security studies courses. Merging a strong theoretical component with rich contemporary and historical empirical examples, Asia-Pacific Security examines the region's key players and challenges as well as a spectrum of proposed solutions for improving regional stability. Major topics include in-depth looks at the United States' relationship with China; Security concerns presented by small and microstates, the region's largest group of nations; threats posed by terrorism and insurgency; the region's accelerating arms race and the potential for an Asian war; the possible roles of multilateralism, security communities, and human security as part of solutions to regional problems.