As part of their preparations for the 2028 Olympic Games, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) sent a group of officers to this year’s Paris Games. According to The LA Times, LAPD worked with the French government to temporarily allow 32 officers to carry guns while providing a largely ceremonial presence. CPE Law Enforcement Strategy Consultant Chris Burbank spoke about his experience with security preparations for the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, additional considerations at the time, and the Games lasting impacting on SLC’s police force:
Chris Burbank, a former police chief in Salt Lake City, said he saw firsthand how important it is to strike a balance between privacy and security earlier in his career when that city hosted the Olympics in 2002.
After 9/11, he said, there was heightened scrutiny of the Muslim community that in hindsight was not justified.
“There is no question in my mind that people were inappropriately targeted in that time,” said Burbank, who is now with the Center for Policing Equity. “Gas stations that were owned by people who were sending money back to family in the Middle East,” for instance.
Like other host cities before it, Burbank said, L.A. will work closely with the Olympic Committee, as well as local, state and federal law enforcement partners for the Games.
“We created, in essence, the largest law enforcement agency in the state of Utah in history,” he said.
Read the article on MSN.com.