To make sure sporting venues and streets are safe, there are more military personnel in Utah for the Olympics than are currently deployed to Afghanistan for the U.S. war on terrorism.
"I think we're as ready as we can be," Salt Lake Police Chief Rick Dinse said Thursday.
The majority of Utahns seem to agree.
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In a Deseret News/KSL-TV poll conducted Wednesday by Dan Jones & Associates, 63 percent of the 408 respondents said they thought a terrorist attack on the Games is unlikely. That's a dramatic swing from Sept. 26 when 59 percent of Utahns said they thought a terrorist attack on the Olympics was likely.
The poll, which has a margin of error of 6 percent, also revealed 87 percent of Utahns are confident that Olympic security efforts can foil any terrorist plot. That's up from 72 percent in the September survey.
Security planners say there's good reason for that confidence. Since Sept. 11, the federal government has allocated an additional $50 million for Olympic security, bringing the total budget for protecting the Games to more than $300 million.
The money is needed. Salt Lake City's Olympics represent one of the largest security undertakings in U.S. history, with 70,000 daily visitors and 3,500 athletes expected to compete.
On Friday, Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, announced the U.S. Department of Justice is sending $4.4 million of that $50 million to the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command to help pay for tents, metal detectors, radios, X-ray machines, night vision goggles, motion detectors, guard shacks at venues.
Other federal money has gone to adding more police and military personnel to the security force. Flights will be halted at Salt Lake City International Airport for Friday's opening ceremonies and closing ceremonies Feb. 24.
A 45-mile bubble of restricted airspace will also surround Salt Lake City during the Games.
The increased security presence has slowly enveloped the Olympic theater as roadblocks, metal detectors and military personnel with M-16s strapped over the shoulders increase leading up to Friday's opening ceremonies.
An addition of 37 ambulances and 10 fire engines has also been spread across the Olympic theater.
Security planners say they're entering the opening ceremonies with confidence in their preparations but with the realization that nothing is ever guaranteed.
"I think that any event during the Olympics would cause people to think that law enforcement hadn't done the job and that's just not true," said Don Johnson, Salt Lake's lead FBI agent for the past two years.
FBI Director Robert Mueller visited Utah Tuesday and Wednesday for a final review of security plans in several non-venue cites. "He was pleased with what he heard and saw," Johnson said.
Mueller is one of several heavy hitters from Washington who've expressed their confidence in Olympic security preparations. It's a topic that Sept. 11 has received increased scrutiny from both the federal government and the media since Sept. 11.
Hill Air Force Base, home to the 388th Fighter Wing and 75th Air Base Wing that will provide much of the air support during the Olympics, has been in Force Protection Condition "Charlie" for the past week and a half in anticipation of the Games. Charlie is one level below Force Protection Condition "Delta," the highest level possible.
"It's been a real hectic time for us," said Col. J.C. Dodson as members of the 75th Air Base Support Group inspected delivery trucks entering Hill Wednesday. "The Olympics have brought us a lot of activity so we're above the normal security status."
Wednesday night's opening ceremonies dress rehearsal was one of the first real tests for security personnel.
While security cameras and communications equipment worked as expected, Robert Flowers, leader of Utah's Olympic Public Safety Command, said the long lines that bottlenecked at metal detectors outside the stadium are something planners are hoping to shorten by the time the real things begins tonight.
"It's the process and we can speed that process up" without compromising security, Flowers said.
E-mail: djensen@desnews.com
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