If you plan on being in town next month, you’re in good hands, according to Robert Flowers.
Flowers, the coordinator and lead official in the security force for the Olympics, addressed faculty, students and the media at a lecture held in Panorama Room East Thursday afternoon.
“We have a security force like no other in the world,” Flowers said. With 80 nations and more than 70,000 visitors a day converging on Utah, Flowers told the audience that providing safety and security to athletes, spectators, residents and businesses is his top priority.
The $300 million security program is working in cooperation with local law enforcement and federal agencies, such as the FBI, CIA, FAA and the ATF.
“Our goal is to make sure everything is safe?I would feel personally horrible if anything happened,” Flowers said.
Although security seems to be the major issue prefacing these Games, Flowers noted, “We have 10 Olympic venues. We have 10 Super Bowls. This will be the largest winter games ever?it’s time we started focusing on the athletes.”
Flowers, who served 23 years in law enforcement and a graduate from the U, is just as excited as he is vigilant about the duties he and his crew have ahead of them.
“Great pains have been made to keep downtown safe but keep it a festive atmosphere,” Flowers told the audience. “I have no problem bringing my family down there?you will have a great time.”
Flowers also took time to address concerns and questions surrounding on- and off-campus security next month. In light of the events of Sept. 11, Flowers said the security plan never changed, rather expanded.
“Nothing goes inside a venue without being checked,” Flowers said. In addition, tighter restrictions on airspace and the mobilization and specific training of National Guard troops have all been implemented.
“We’ve been working 20 hours a day to make things happen,” Flowers said. The restricted airspace was a hot topic among the audience, and Flowers quelled fears when he stated, “fighter jets will always be in the air. We’re not playing around with that.”
Additionally, Flowers expressed great confidence that Olympic security will be everything he’s promised. “I am confident in the fact that we’ve done everything we can do?I am confident that there’s no red tape in our way anymore,” he said.
Flowers said his biggest fear is traffic and transportation. His suggestion is that people use the TRAX system for the three weeks the Olympics are in town and enjoy the festivities.
Though he could not reveal every detail of the Olympic security plan, Flowers joked about the lack of top-secret information.
“There’s not a lot of 007 James Bond stuff here. We’re talking more ‘how many?’ and ‘where?’ sorts of things,” he said.
Finally, Flowers expressed his excitement for the Olympic Games and Salt Lake City. “This is a good opportunity for the state of Utah and the nation as well,” he said.
The lecture, sponsored by the Associated Students of the University of Utah, the department of history, the Middle East Center, the department of asian studies, the department of political science and the Union Programming Board, was the second in a series of talks titled, “9/11: Responding to Global Affairs.”