SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Television crews at the Pan American Games had television sets stolen from the National Stadium, site of Friday’s opening ceremony, this week, raising concerns about crime at the tournament that hosts more than 6,800 athletes.
Harold Mayne-Nicholls, the games’ chief executive, said on Thursday that police had recovered stolen cameras, but provided additional details. He had reported the incident in a video the day before.
“The Chilean police were up to the task. In less than 24 hours cameras were stolen in the National Stadium area,” Mayne-Nicholls said in a video posted on her social media.
Chilean police said late Wednesday that they had recovered some of the stolen pieces and arrested one of the alleged thieves. A contractor, not the local police, was to blame for the security at the National Stadium when the incident occurred.
The Pan American Games, the largest multi-sport event in the Americas, are held a year before the Olympic Games. Chile is the tournament for the first time, which will run from October 10 to November 5.
Recent polls have shown Chileans are involved in crime under President Gabriel Boric, whose administration has faced street protests ahead of the Games in a politically divided country.
The country’s government said crime increased by 44% in 2022 from last year. Official figures also show that homicides doubled between 2016 and 2022, from 3. 6 per 100,000 inhabitants to 7.
The Chilean government announced earlier this month that 3,000 police officers would perform at the Pan American Games, the biggest sporting event the Andean country has hosted in years. The police presence at the National Stadium was greater on Thursday than at the beginning of the week.
Pan American organizers have told The Associated Press in the past that they had paid greater attention to checkpoints at the gates of each sports venue.
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AP writer Eva Vergara contributed to this report.
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AP Sports: https://apnews. com/sports
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