Officials say spectators at the Vancouver Paralympic Games won't have to deal with the kind of heavy security and lineups seen at the Olympics.

About 15,500 police, military and private security personnel protected the Olympics from potential terrorist attack, even though the threat level going into them was low.

Under the assumption terrorists are even less likely to attack Games dedicated to the disabled, fewer people will be used to guard the more modest Paralympics.

Only 750 RCMP officers, 500 Canadian Armed Forces personnel and a handful of private security screeners will be needed for the 10-day Paralympics, said Const. Mandy Edwards of the Olympic Integrated Security Unit.

With only 11 Paralympic sports and non-competition venues to secure, compared with 30 for the Olympics, fewer staff would be needed in any case, she said.

It took 6,000 police from across Canada to protect the Olympics, but for the Paralympics, the ISU will draw officers only from B.C., except for a few specialized units such as additional dog handlers.

The traffic checkpoint at Squamish, about halfway between Vancouver and Whistler, is gone.

There will be fewer road closures, though parking at all sports venues is still banned, and the marine security perimeter for waterside venues has shrunk, said Edwards.

The exception is the eastern basin of False Creek, adjacent to the Vancouver Olympic village, where only boats with registered moorage will be allowed.

The ISU is also considering whether to shrink the canopy of restricted airspace over Vancouver, site of only sledge hockey and wheelchair curling, and Whistler, home to three Paralympic ski events.

"There have been some discussions," Edwards said. "Obviously everything's been scaled back."

Security officials have already dropped the requirement that charter, business and regional airline flights from smaller communities be pre-screened before flying into Vancouver, she says.

The 5,000-strong private security force that screened spectators and their bags at every Olympic venue will also be largely gone.

Pedestrian screening will only take place at the opening and closing ceremonies at B.C. Place stadium and at the Olympic villages in Vancouver and Whistler.

"But any other venue will be basically as if you were to go to a hockey game today or curling event today," Edwards said. "It is going to be easier."

The Olympic torch relay was one of the few problem areas for security officials, with protests or the threat of protests forcing several diversions in the cross-Canada run.

But the Paralympic torch relay, which began last Wednesday in Ottawa, will hit only 11 communities so it's getting scaled-down security, bolstered by local police.

The Paralympics kick off with the opening ceremonies on Friday and run until March 21.