>>
morning to you.
>> reporter:
good morning. every city that hosts the games asks the same question, how are we going to keep the games safe. in the last few weeks there's been a scandal with a
private security
company and has some people in the city wondering whether
london
is ready. those in charge insist it is. the largest peace time security operation in
british history
starts at the
olympic park
. this week athletes are pouring in. soon spectators will as well. so when the
private security
firm g4s announced four weeks ago they could not provide enough guards at the gates, the
british military
was forced to step up. 4700 troops now check bags and man x-rays. at venues outside of
london
, the
local police
have had to fill in. but
metropolitan police
commander says the g4s debacle has not compromised security.
>>
what it did do, people in all the agencies had to work a bit harder.
>> reporter:
the
security guards
are just one part of a much larger operation. from this
command and control
center broad hurts is in charge on the ground, water, and air. they are backed up by a military arsenal including surface-to-air missiles, typhoon
fighter jets
and the
royal navy
's largest ship the
hms ocean
. it's an historic buildup londoners have noticed.
>>
if something did happen, we'd be equipped to respond to it quite well.
>>
there are also multiple layers of security the public won't see, including new technology to remotely control vehicles if they get carjacked installed in thousands of buses. we were given a firsthand demonstration.
>>
it's measuring everything from speed down to how much i'm pressing the accelerator.
>> reporter:
at the
side of the road
a colleague took control of the car electric a laptop.
>>
really can't do anything with the vehicle.
>> reporter:
now coming to a complete stop. even more important than technology and firepower, say commanders, is experience. on
july 7th
,
2005
, just a day after
london
was awarded the
2012
games, the city was attacked by a home grown terror cell. 52 people were killed.
>>
terrorism has been a fact of
life in the united kingdom
since 9/11 and really before. but the
security services
because of that experience are as good, if not better, than any
security service
in the world.
>> reporter:
security says the likelihood of a large scale attack is quite small. what they are more concerned about is the
lone wolf
attack, a person acting on their own. the
best defense
against that is public vigilance. matt.
>>>
stephanie, thank you very much.
“ ”