G4S Told To Smile!

Staff at G4S, the security company that banned photographers from taking pictures of the Olympics Park on public land, have been told to smile to people during the forthcoming Olympics.

For why?

They are company that has been hired to provide security over and above the police, army, navy and RAF; and it is of concern that they may be a tad "over-zealous" in their attempts to maintain security and control around the Games.


Mark Hamilton, the man leading G4S's Olympic security team which will operate airport-style searches and screening at venues, said guards were being encouraged to engage with spectators is quoted by Reuters:

"I think it is very relevant not to over-react to situations that arise on the first day - to make sure they are properly assessed and that the communications process is working in the way it should so that the decisions are made at the right time and people act in the right way."

He referred to the photography incident and noted:

"There's no doubt that's a lesson learnt, not to overly criticise the workforce and the guards involved because they are operating under a regime where hostile reconnaissance is something they have to be aware of.

How they handle that, and how they manage it and how they report it is obviously something we've learnt a lesson from."

A G4S spokesperson admitted that ‘two members of our staff incorrectly intervened to prevent photographers from doing their work at Olympic Park’ adding that this is something it ‘regrets and [we] have instructed and reminded our staff to operate completely within the law’.

It is good that G4S are learning lessons, given that they have, according to David Hencke, had to admit in their annual report that they need to train people to understand human rights.

Details of some of G4S's activities can be found in this report by Unite "Tax Avoidance, Strike Breaking and Human Rights Abuses".


Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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