Metro detectives to help with Olympics

Keith Paul

Monday, Jan. 28, 2002 | 9:11 a.m.

Two Metro Police intelligence detectives went to Salt Lake City last week to join the intelligence-gathering effort at the Olympic Games, but they will also watch out for any potential threats to Las Vegas.

"If anything up there might relate to Las Vegas, we would already have people there," Deputy Chief Bill Young, head of Metro's Special Operations Bureau, said.

The Metro detectives, who were not identified, volunteered to be part of the gathering of intelligence officials at the Games to collect and sift through rumors, threats and sabotage.

The two local detectives will join FBI agents from the Las Vegas office already in Utah. The FBI would not say how many local agents were sent to the Olympic Games or exactly what they will be doing.

"The FBI will provide a variety of functions, from security at events to typing," Special Agent Gayle Jacobs, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Las Vegas office, said.

Jacobs said FBI agents from various offices are at the Olympic venues, which is normal anytime there is a big event.

"Just because we're up there doesn't mean there is anything bad happening," she said.

Metro Police have stepped up intelligence and counterterrorism efforts since the Sept. 11 attacks, with detectives getting the necessary federal government security clearances to see information classified as "secret."

The two Metro detectives will remain in contact with the intelligence unit in Las Vegas throughout their stay in Utah, Capt. Dan Barry, commander of the organized crime unit, said.

"It's a duel benefit with them getting excellent training up there while assisting," Barry said.

Police from 48 states and 600 foreign officers are volunteering to provide security, mostly at event venues, said Tammy Palmer, spokeswoman for the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command.

Palmer said the FBI is heading up the intelligence-gathering efforts during the games.com