Victoria Police’s Critical Incident Response Team on Christmas alert in Melbourne’s CBD
A rapid response squad of elite police armed with machine guns is on alert as thousands of people descend on Melbourne’s CBD over Christmas and the festive season.
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A rapid response squad of elite police armed with machine guns is on alert as thousands of people descend on Melbourne’s CBD over Christmas.
The Critical Incident Response Team will also guard revellers at key festive events including Carols by Candlelight and New Year’s Eve celebrations.
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The highly trained group has responded to more than 80 calls for help since being deployed in the city a year ago.
Its officers have responded to incidents — such as last year’s Flinders St attack — in as little as 40 seconds.
They arrived at last month’s Bourke St terror rampage in just two minutes.
Insp Michael Reid told the Herald Sun the huge influx of people into major cities during Christmas, coupled with its religious significance, could provide additional motivation for terrorists.
Only last week, three people were shot dead when a suspected extremist opened fire at a Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg.
“Globally, both in the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere, you see an increase in that sort of activity occurring,’’ Insp Reid said.
“We are constantly reminding our members to be vigilant and to be mindful that during this time of year there is more people out and about coming into the city to celebrate Christmas.
“We want to encourage people to still go about their normal day to day lives and reassure them that Victoria Police has a response capability.”
The Critical Incident Response Team was deployed to 83 reported incidents in Melbourne’s CBD and immediate surrounds between last December and November 30 — an average of one every four days.
Officers arrived within an average of 4½ minutes.
Incidents included within four minutes intercepting an ice-crazed driver who drove from Richmond into Swanston St and within two minutes arresting a drug-affected man aboard a tram threatening to shoot passengers.
A man allegedly stating he was a terrorist and refusing to leave Crown Casino was detained within five minutes.
Insp Reid said the force was committed to honing its preparedness for the threat of terrorism during cultural and religiously significant events.
Sports events like the AFL Finals and Australian Open tennis were also a focus.
“It’s really trying to be smarter in the way we deploy,’’ he said. “We want to continue to improve as much as we can.
“It’s not only being able to respond to higher level local armed offending but ensuring that we have that response capability for the more high end potential terrorist incidents to support frontline police.
“We are doing and will continue to do everything we can to ensure we have the appropriate level of response.”