Clad in their incandescent gold and sky-blue uniforms, the Japanese national police officers have blanketed Nagano with a striking and constant reminder of the tense security surrounding the 1998 Winter Games.
They are virtually everywhere, at every intersection, more in the public plazas and bus terminals and train depots. There are small armies at the Olympic venues themselves. In all, some 6,000 police officers have been assigned to the Winter Games, and that's not counting the Olympic security officers working inside the various venues."By comparison, we have only 3,500 officers in the entire state of Utah, and there is no way we are going to have the physical presence you see here," said Salt Lake County Sheriff Aaron Kennard, who is in Nagano as a guest of the national police to observe security at the Games.
"They have done a very good job preparing for any and every contingency, but they have greater (human) resources than we will have. Our challenge in 2002 will be to provide an even greater security, but do it with only a fraction of the officers. And our intent in 2002 will be to be a little more invisible about it."
Providing security to the thousands of athletes, media and international visitors is a major concern to the 14 Utah law enforcement officials who are in Nagano on a federal grant to observe local security measures and to develop plans for security at the 2002 Games.
The answer may be greater utilization of technology. West Valley Police Chief Dennis Nordfelt is urging the application of automated traffic systems whereby a single officer in a patrol car or an officer in a remote command center with video cameras can control traffic lights at congested intersections with a transponder.
The technology to do that exists, but Utah doesn't have any system even close to it. And it will be extremely expensive to acquire and implement such technology. "If we do get it, it would become part of the Olympic legacy that would benefit Utahns for years to come," Nordfelt said, noting it could be used to quickly empty parking lots after events at the Delta Center, the E Center and University of Utah.
Traffic control has not been a huge problem in Nagano due in large part to the fact the Japanese are unusually patient motorists. The Utah delegation does not believe Utah motorists will share the same sense of patience, nor is it likely they will uniformly comply with requests not to drive their cars during the Olympics and to stagger their work shifts. Local police say Nagano traffic is down 40 percent after such an appeal from the local government.
"Americans are impatient and aggressive, and we will have a more negative reaction if we don't do a better job moving people around," Nordfelt said.
Utah security officials are also trying to figure out how to balance personal freedoms that are inherent in the American lifestyle with the security concerns that the Olympics could become a venue for terrorist attacks. "There are not many events with the potential to grab the international spotlight like the Olympics," Kennard said.
While the Japanese people have few qualms about the intense presence of police, Americans get nervous when the security becomes suffocating as it is in Nagano. In that regard, the 2000 Summer Games in Australia will offer Utah officers a more comparable look at what it will be like in Salt Lake City.
That is one reason why Utah officers are working closely with Peter Ryan, commissioner of police for Sydney and New South Wales, who is also in Nagano observing local efforts. "The security issues are the same for the Summer Olympics as they are for the Winter Olympics," Ryan said. "You have big venues, lots of people, lots of security trying to control the movement of people."
Utahns are using Atlanta, Nagano and Sydney as a blueprint of what to do and what not to do. "We had better do a better job than any of them," said Craig Dearden, director of the Utah Department of Public Safety. "We will have had plenty of opportunity to learn from their mistakes."
"We will have to use our officers more smartly, or at least different than they are used here," said Larry Stott, Salt Lake City assistant police chief. "We don't have a choice. And that (the smaller number of officers) makes it so critical that we (different police jurisdictions) get along at every different level. That's the one thing that stands out, that we have to cooperate."
From the Japanese, the Utah security delegation is learning a lot about security technology, including unobtrusive, hand-held metal detectors and explosive detectors that can identify threats without the target even knowing he or she is being scanned by the device. They are learning about video surveillance and controlling access to venues and securing sites before events.
The 2002 Games will likely have all that and more. Utah officers are counting on the federal government to help with the security technology and intelligence gathering, and they have put in a request for the security equipment used during the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta - equipment that is sitting in storage.
But all of the officers acknowledge that there is a limit to what technology can do, and Games security will require an unprecedented level of cooperation among Utah law enforcement agencies. A bill has been introduced in the Utah Legislature that will designate Dearden as the head of security for the 2002 Games and will place all officers assigned to the Games, regardless of police department or jurisdiction, under his command.
Dearden said he will request manpower from police departments throughout the state although he cannot and will not compel those departments to provide officers. "We will use persuasion to convince them to participate," he said. "And I think they will."
But the officers are more than a little concerned about the impact that will have on local departments and local city budgets. For example, if a small rural department with four officers sends one of those officers to the Games, the other three are then forced to work overtime to make up the difference.
Who pays for that overtime is a point of dispute between the departments and the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. SLOC has told the committee of Utah law officers developing the security plan that it is local government's responsibility to pay for the overtime and any additional manpower.
The Utah security delegation is uncertain how many officers will be needed for the 2002 Games, but they acknowledge they will likely need more than they will have. Ken-nard said he will soon begin certifying all reserve and special service officers as full-fledged peace officers who would be available for Games duty. Other jurisdictions are likely to follow suit.
There is also hope the federal government will provide some man-power, particularly in the intelligence arena and tactical strike teams. But federal involvement is a sticky political issue, and Utah officers are not counting on it just yet.
Utah National Guardsmen could also be called to help with security. And it is likely that private security companies will be hired as was the case in Atlanta.
Regardless of who is providing the security, Utah's security force will be distinctive and recognizable. "The commissioner (Dearden) and chief (Nordfeldt) and I are concocting what our uniforms will look like" Kennard said. "We haven't decided yet what they will be, but there will be a standard uniform for all of the officers."