Mounties spending large on 2010 Olympics

OTTAWA, May 9 (UPI) -- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police will spend $1.5 million to rent an entire Vancouver hotel for security for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Gursharn Bernier said a deal is in the works with the Blue Horizon Hotel to book all 214 rooms and parking to accommodate officers from late January to March of 2010, the Globe and Mail reported Friday.

While the hotel would provide 300 beds, the force is still looking into acquiring more space for the Games' Integrated Security Unit composed of RCMP, military and local police officials, the report said.

At least 5,000 more beds are required and the ISU has called for bids for accommodation on a cruise ship in Vancouver harbor, with an estimated cost of $5 million.

Bernier said the plan is to have several concentrations of security forces in the city.

"Common sense dictates no one would put all their eggs in one basket, let alone all their security force on one ship," she told the newspaper. "We're living in a post-9/11 climate and it just would not … be smart security to put everything in one place."

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