Security Breaches in London Focus Attention on Olympic Security

April 13, 2012

Two eye-catching security breaches in London in recent days have embarrassed the authorities and focused attention on policing for the Olympics later this year. The British government is taking widespread precautions to try to thwart any terrorist attack. There are concerns that the biggest disruption, however, could come from a different kind of threat.

72 floors up with London laid out before them. A breathtaking, terrifying view from the top of the Shard, the highest building in Europe.

The group who took this video call themselves the Urban Explorers. They say they do not set out to break the law - but their latest stunt has exposed an embarrassing security breach a few months before the Olympic Games open in London.

David Rubens runs a security consulting firm, specializing in the Olympics.

“The security managers, that’s the sort of thing they should be managing. The Olympics is a wild problem. It’s a wicked problem. It’s out of control. But looking after your own building is something that security managers should be able to do nowadays,” said Rubens.

Several similar groups are now claiming they also illegally scaled the Shard in recent months. The revelation comes just a week after a major sporting event in London was disrupted.

For the first time since the world wars, a protestor halted the rowing race along the River Thames between Oxford and Cambridge universities.