DSS Agents Play Critical Role in Keeping U.S. Athletes, Citizens Safe at Olympics
As the 2024 Paris Olympic Games roll on, the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) is playing a critical role in keeping U.S. athletes, dignitaries, and citizens safe.
DSS has been on site at every Olympics since the 1976 games in Montreal.
At the Paris Games, DSS is leading the International Security Event Group and is working with French security.
DSS employees help secure competition venues, athlete villages, a U.S. government security operations center, and a host nation law enforcement center.
“Nations often use their medal counts when determining their success at the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security Gentry Smith. “When it comes to security, DSS strives for ‘zero’ as a winning number — ‘zero’ significant security incidents.”
Operations Center
There is a Joint Operations Center located at the U.S. Embassy in Paris. That’s where special agents and data analysts gather to listen to chatter on the web, take reports from agents in the field, and assess any security risks that might be brewing.
"We're looking for safety and security information, so any kind of threats that might materialize, whether they be terrorist threats, protest information, safety and security, even weather-related issues," said DSS Director of Major Events Coordination Tim Ayers to NBC Bay Area.
Director Ayers noted that coordination between U.S. and French security has been going on for several years in preparation, with the U.S. hosting French officials at the Super Bowl to give more details on how a major event is secured.
“A Neat Experience”
And for DSS Agents themselves, protecting some of the greatest athletes in the world is a welcome change of pace.
DSS Special Agent Dan Bair is protecting members of the U.S. golf team, which includes Xander Schauffele, who won both the PGA Championship and British Open this year.
“We’re the only law enforcement federal agency that gets to do things like this,” Bair said. “So, to say it wasn't a neat experience would be a lie.”
Another DSS agent, Mike Bjelajac, is off to Tahiti to protect U.S. surfers in the surfing competitions that are held in French Polynesia.
"It may feel like we're in paradise. But things can happen anywhere, even in paradise," said Bjelajac to USA Today.