Police said they want to combine their 10,000 existing cameras with devices used for congestion charging, traffic control and private security across the Capital.
Under plans unveiled by Tarique Ghaffur, the Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner in charge of security at the 60-day Games, all footage would be passed through a single surveillance centre.
“Efforts focus on the capabilities we currently have and how these can be used efficiently to make London safer both now and during Games time,” he told delegates at the ISNR security conference in Abu Dhabi this week.
However, police currently have no automatic right to access footage from private cameras unless they are investigating a crime.
To help make the additional measures more effective, Ghaffur said London would be divided into three “security zones”.
“Three helicopters will carry out close surveillance for the games and in addition 500,000 closed-circuit TV cameras will be installed across the city.
“Other measures will include automatic vehicle number plate recognition and biometric tracking systems,” he added.
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is also said to have revealed plans to biometrically screen up to 100,000 workers during the construction of the Olympic Park.
According to reports in the national media, every worker on the site will be made to pass through a two-tier biometric access system that reads palm prints and faces as part of a wider, GB pound 354m security initiative.
“The gates will be like the Jubilee Line – put your hand down and it will open,” ODA chairman John Armitt said.
Are you interested in finding out more about security at the Games? Then why not visit our dedicated Olympics pages?
