How a Utah tourist destination is trying to prevent a New Orleans-like attack

PARK CITY, Utah — Park City, Utah – In a few weeks, the streets here will fill with visitors attending the Sundance Film Festival.

A few months later, the Park Silly Sunday market will attract thousands of people.

And in nine years, the Winter Olympics ski and slide in Park City.

City Police Chief Wade Carpenter said his officers protect dozens of special events each year.

“We staff up every day at special events,” Carpenter said.

The chief said federal and state agencies are keeping Park City informed of the threats. As for someone walking through a crowd, like what occurred on New Year’s Day in New OrleansThis is something his department is careful to avoid.

“We also have bollards that can completely close a lot of these side streets, to mitigate as much risk as possible,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter said his department also has a variety of other traffic barriers it can place around the city.

“That being said, there is no such thing as a perfect plan,” Carpenter acknowledged.

The 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics “were ahead of the game” in cordoning off sidewalks, says Scott Decker, a senior scientist at the Center for Naval Intelligence who has written on Olympic security.

He believes what happened in New Orleans will be studied by those who protect the Olympics. So will school shootings and other types of individual attacks.

Decker worries about so-called plastic guns made by 3D printers that can avoid metal detectors. And while law enforcement can use drones to monitor events, Decker worries about drones carrying weapons.

“Drones,” Decker said, “are really going to be a game-changer on both sides, frankly — law violators and law enforcement. » For the 2034 Olympic Games, Park City will host ski and snowboard events as well as bobsleigh, skeleton and luge. Park City also hosted the 2002 Games.

“The Olympics is a very different security plan,” Carpenter said, “in the sense that you have virtually unlimited resources and you have the ability to completely shut down any entry into the city.”

The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute estimates that the federal government will pay $188 million in security for the 2034 Olympics.