Locked and loaded
Games go commando to head off any possible terror threats
AUSTRALIA’S most elite commandos are on standby for terror attacks at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and police on foot will livestream major incidents via mobile phones.
Hundreds of covert officers with specialist training learned from the Boston Marathon bombings will blend into crowds and pick out terrorists and “fixated” people.
Drones used by the public will be “taken out” and vehicles and people will be separated with airport-style checkpoints which can test for explosives and hazardous materials.
Officers will also have extra powers inside special security zones to frisk-search people and their bags without suspicion, search and seize cars and search front yards of properties with detection dogs.
The massive security operation involves about 3700 Queensland Police officers, 1500 Australian Defence Force personnel and 4300 security personnel.
Tactical Assault Group East – a special forces counterterrorism unit – will be on hand to respond to any major incident, along with national security agencies such as ASIO, Australian Federal Police and Border Force.
Commonwealth Games Commander Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said the terror threat in Australia remained probable but police were prepared for anything after years of preparation.
“What we focused on very strongly, and I’ll be very honest, the big one is terrorism,” Mr Gollschewski said. “We planned towards that.
“Our security design has been to accommodate all the various modes of attack that could happen, say things like vehicle attacks, snipers, explosives and even hoaxes.”
Highly-trained Special Emergency Response Team officers who include snipers, the Public Safety Response Team and bomb squad will be on hand, with specialists from South Australia and Northern Territory police forces also to be based on the Coast.
Army engineers will search venues and divers will scour waterways.
Police have looked at worstcase scenarios such as an armed attack by a terrorist, a hijack which involved crashing a plane, a vehicle attack, or the threats of drones, Mr Gollschewski said. Police have a special drone gun which can effectively force-land any craft located in restricted airspace. General-duties officers have taken active armed offender training, which includes taking down a shooter rather than detain them. Police have a list of persons of securityconcerns interest and of a Queensland Fixated Threat Assessment Centre that Added powers in the Protective Security Zones Police officers may;
Conduct a frisk search of persons without warrant.
Stop, search and detain vehicles entering or in the zone without warrant.
Enter and search premises, but cannot enter residential premises unless with the occupier’s consent or with reasonable suspicion.
Give a general direction to persons in a public place for the safety and security of persons including giving a direction to move on.
Use firearms and explosives detection dogs to search public places, premises that are not residences and yards of private places. These additional powers only apply in the PSZs, and will lapse one week after the Games. listed people who were fixated rather than radicalised.
“We are aware of a number of people in both areas,” Mr Gollschewski said.
He said crowded areas were really difficult but police had strategies and experts on the ground.
Officers trained in Behaviour Observation and Suspicious Activity Recognition, known as BOSAR, will tell Police Communications about people who are not meeting the “baseline behaviour of the crowd”. Officers would then approach the person and could search or detain them.
The training is designed to stop terror incidents such as the Boston bombings which killed three and the Manchester Arena bombing which killed 23.
“If you look at the Boston Marathon bombers, they exhibited behaviour that were completely against the crowd, as did the guy in Manchester,” Mr Gollschewski said.
“So, we’ve got the trained BOSAR people who are specifically skilled and will be placed in the right places to detect those sort of people and those sort of behaviours.”
Officers will also livestream any incidents. “At any given time, pretty well from the joint emergency services co-ordination centre on the Gold Coast, we can pretty well see everything that is happening either from livestreaming from Polair or people on the ground,” Mr Gollschewski said.
“We want vision so will use the iPhone and livestream it back to the command post and get proper vision of it.”
He said the Games would be more complex than the G20 meet in Brisbane in 2014 because there were areas that needed a higher level of security to keep people safe over a much longer period, over more venues and transport corridors, including the “last mile” where people would walk to access venues and festival areas.
Mr Gollschewski said there was in-depth planning to protect dignitaries such as Prince Charles.
“There has been a long lead-in time planning around not just his visit for the Games, but also his broader visits, where he will stay, how he will be looked after, how we will link with royal protection,” he said.
He also said foreign security would not be allowed to use their own firearms.
“Our laws are our laws,” he said.