Reuters reports that Olympic security forces continued to take up positions Tuesday, threatening to plunge the 2002 Winter Games into chaos, long lines and delays.
Increased security because of Sept. 11 is showing troubling signs that the Games will be the most restrictive and tightly controlled in Olympic history.
So far, the only people affected, said Reuters, have been a few thousand journalists, technicians and officials who have arrived early to set up operations. Entrance into the Main Press Center, which will be home to 9,000 journalists, routinely takes 15-30 minutes, even with the vast majority of media yet to arrive.
The official opening of the Athletes Village was also disrupted on Tuesday. Dozens of journalists, photographers and TV crews missed part or all of the ceremony because the Secret Service refused to ease the congestion by letting a few people enter at another security checkpoint less than 100 meters away, despite getting the all clear from a SLOC official.
According to Reuters, when a reporter did not immediately move away from the checkpoint, a member of the Secret Service took out his handcuffs and placed them on the table in a clear warning.
A few days earlier the Secret Service forcibly removed a France 2 television crew from a tour of the village for not keeping up with the main group.
Also, sharp objects, including nail files, are not allowed in the Main Press Center and are confiscated. Cell phones, pocket organizers and computers must all be turned on and shut down, adding to delays.
Highly sensitive metal detectors can be triggered by the snaps on winter jackets, resulting in body searches.
SLOC president Mitt Romney admitted there was little, if anything, he could do to affect security changes. But he said he would discuss the situation with the Secret Service or Homeland security director Tom Ridge if security issues were putting the success of the Games in jeopardy.
