ANTI-TERROR MEASURES FOR OUR EVENTS:
MELBOURNE- STYLE antiterror strategies will continue to be rolled out at Geelong’s major events as police prepare for any regional threat.
Concrete bollards will again be rolled out at major events — including Run for Geelong’s Kids and the Cadel Evans Bike Ride — as police prepare for a “probable” terror event.
It comes as Melbourne’s war-style alarms rung on Friday when Hassan Khalif Shire Ali drove a gas cylinder-filled ute into the middle of Melbourne’s CBD before setting the vehicle alight and going on a stabbing spree, killing Melbourne coffee icon Sisto Malaspina.
Geelong’s police chief Western Region Assistant Commissioner Cindy Millen said Melbourne’s anti-terror measures were mirrored in regional cities like Geelong.
She did not rule out terror alert sirens being installed in Geelong but said that was a matter for local command and government.
“The current assessment is that a threat is probable,” Assistant Commissioner Millen said. “In terms of our policing (Friday’s events) are unlikely to impact our Western Region policing because it always takes into account that a terrorism threat is probable.
“It’s business as usual.”
About 200 concrete bollards were installed across Melbourne in June 2017 to help prevent motorists carrying out similar attacks to the fatal Bourke St, London and Nice incidents.
The security bollards were then used over the Australia Day weekend in Geelong, when tens of thousands of visitors descended on the waterfront for cycling and sailing events.
They were also in place for Torquay’s Anzac Day service at Point Danger, which is one of the most heavily attended in the state.
“In terms of all events we have adequate resources and conduct a proper risk assessment. That will continue in line with the anti-terror guidelines,” Assistant Commissioner Millen said. In May Assistant Commissioner Millen said police managed about 130 events on Geelong’s burgeoning social calendar.
She told the Geelong Advertiser the increased security did not indicate there were specific threats, but would become a routine measure.
The City of Greater Geelong previously said it is guided by Australia’s anti-terrorism strategy, compiled last year. It requires all event organisers to submit an emergency management plan that meets public safety standards and is proportionate to the risks posed by their activity and location.