As each day passes, more and more security forces will be showing up to safeguard athletes and visitors attending the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
The Canadian military is already patrolling in helicopters. On the ground, temporary camps have been set up to accommodate the soldiers.
And now the RCMP and military have control of the waterways of Burrard Inlet and False Creek.
Sgt. Cameron Miller of the 2010 Integrated Security Unit is in charge of marine security. He says the unit is planning for a medium threat risk.
“Intel is coming in from different sources,” he said.
“We are in post-9/11 environment. We have very strong intelligence teams gathering intelligence from all different kinds of places.”
The navy patrols Burrard Inlet 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is who you will face if you stray to close to Olympics venues.
“They are looking for any sorts of threat, intrusions -- any mariners coming inside 50 metres of the controlled access zone,” Miller said.
Black marine fencing around the cruise ship is a warning for boaters to stay away.
Barriers now protect the International Broadcast Centre and Cambie Street Bridge. Outside the athlete’s village, 24 hours patrols are underway.
The security coverage will extend below the surface. Divers will do underwater sweeps of every venue every day.
“There are all kinds of things you can place under surface and they’re looking for things that shouldn’t be there,” Miller said.
“They’re clearing piers, they’re clearing rock faces. They’re cleaning the bottom of the ocean floor.”
The biggest challenge for the police is that waterways will not be completely closed during the Olympics.
Normal port traffic is expected and that means container ships and fishing fleets will all come under police scrutiny.
With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Lisa Rossington
