(3 of 3)
Gates' appetite for elaborate security has been the subject of a mounting feud between the L.A.P.D. and the L.A.O.O.C. The Olympic Committee has a $100 million budget, most of it tied up in individual contracts with state and local police departments. Chief Gates, however, negotiated a special clause in his $15.7 million pact, making him the final arbiter of Olympic security in the city of Los Angeles and making the L.A.O.O.C. liable for any increased costs. Last week Gates invoked the agreement and demanded more guards for the Olympic sites and Villages, a move that could hike his contract by as much as $3 million. The L.A.O.O.C. has so far refused to comply. If there is no agreement before the Games, Gates has vowed he will station the extra guards anyway and send the L.A.O.O.C. the bill. Says William Booth, a Gates aide: "Let the lawyers decide the issue later. But there will be adequate security."
Last May, when the U.S.S.R. pulled out of the Games, ironically citing inadequate security — and 16 countries followed suit, Olympic planners became more nervous, not less. "It is just a fact of life that terrorist countries are influenced by the Soviets," says Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block. "And if terrorists do make an attack, the Soviets can point to it as a case of 'See, we told you so.' "
Despite the scale of Los Angeles, its security forces are not large by recent Olympic standards. At the 1980 Games in Moscow, 240,000 Soviet militiamen patrolled the streets and stood shoulder to shoulder at each event. Still, officials in the City of Angels feel confident they have done everything possible to prevent disruptions. "These Games are a celebration, not an international security event," says Security Director Best. "But you can be sure we are planning for a worst possible case scenario."
— By Susan Tim
— Reported by Joseph J. Kane/Los Angeles