During a Senate Homeland Security & Government Affairs Committee hearing last month, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) asked LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games CEO Reynold Hoover about event security at the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.
00:00We will do that then, and then we'll go to Senator Haas, and then he'll come right back to me.
00:03I'll have some additional questions.
00:07Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:10Lieutenant General Hoover, the DHS designated the LA-28 Olympics as a national security special event,
00:20which means the Secret Service coordinates security for the event.
00:24What has it been like to coordinate security for something as big as the Olympics?
00:30Do you feel supported by the federal government?
00:33What more could we do for that?
00:35Well, thank you, Senator.
00:37I think, you know, as I mentioned at the outset, the Secret Service, especially in LA and at their headquarters level,
00:45has been an active participant since the NSSC was designated for the Olympics.
00:51The partnership has been incredible.
00:54They have a lead special agent in charge of coordinating the overall event.
01:00We have 12 separate subcommittees that are working,
01:04and those subcommittees are composed with law enforcement representatives from the local, state, and federal level,
01:10so that the coordination is there.
01:12I think one area that, you know, that we are genuinely concerned about is to make sure that, you know,
01:20our local and state partners and federal organizations that are involved in security receive 100% reimbursement for their services.
01:29It has been – it is not something unique to the LA games.
01:32It was done in Atlanta in 96.
01:34It was done in 2002 at Salt Lake City.
01:37And there is a mechanism to do that on the books.
01:40There is a 2013 NSSC grant that was put in place in 2013.
01:47I think the – the enabling grant is still there, but it hasn't been funded, and the program hasn't been activated.
01:54And I think that's an area that the Senate could look at and the Congress can look at is to think about, you know, reactivating that grant program.
02:03It is a concern, I think, of all of our constituents that are – and partners that are working on security is to ensure that reimbursement comes through.
02:14And, Mr. Ginder, I have a really – a quick – a quick question for you.
02:18I have heard that the World Cup will be likely described as the day before Thanksgiving for three months straight.
02:27I've – I've done that once, and I don't ever want to do that again.
02:30And so – so do you feel like that's – that's an effective description?
02:35And do you feel that we have enough TSA and CP officers?
02:38Are there anything that we can do anything better?
02:41What kinds of – what kind of concerns do you have for that?
02:44Thank you, Senator, for that question.
02:45Certainly more officers is – is important.
02:48And I mentioned earlier that it takes roughly 18 months to deploy these officers.
02:52And so trying to do that as soon as possible is really important.
02:55But that's where technology to enable those officers to act more efficiently comes on board.
03:00So some of the things I mentioned, like biometric screening and enhanced baggage processing, makes the whole system work much more quickly.
03:08So Congress can support these efforts by allocating funding for the staffing increases, but also expediting some of those technology upgrades.
