Extra police to patrol services
SECURITY is expected to be tight ahead of today’s Anzac Day commemorations on the Gold Coast.
Extra police are expected to patrol dawn services and marches across the region.
Although no specific threat has been made against any of the sites hosting a march or service, police are not leaving anything to chance following what appears to have been a deliberate attack in Toronto, Canada, where a van driver left the road and ploughed into a crowd of pedestrians yesterday, killing 10 and injuring 15.
Memories also remain vivid of the truck attack in the south of France in 2016, when a driver used a 19-tonne truck to run down and kill 86 people and injure 458 others.
Chief Superintendent Marty Mickelson said Gold Coast police would be out in force on the public holiday to ensure the day ran smoothly.
“We have sufficient staff from the local police divisions going to all the of the Anzac Day events,” Supt Mickelson said.
“While we’re always prepared for things, there is certainly no concern at this stage for a major threat, or anything along those lines … we can never say never, but we certainly put as many resources as we possibly can to mitigate those sorts of things occurring.
“We always sit back and look at those incidents (the Toronto and Nice attacks) and take away any lessons learnt.
“The most recent place we put those into action was at the Commonwealth Games, where there was a whole range of mitigation plans put in place for vehicle assaults and those sort of things.”
He said police would be out in force and urged the public to plan ahead if they were thinking about drinking.
“It is a public holiday and the weather prediction is for a fantastic day here on the Gold Coast,’’ he said.
“People need to remember we will be out in force and traffic regulations and rules apply as they do on any other day.
“If people are going to go out and enjoy the day and drink alcohol, then they need to think of that and have alternative transport means in place.”
Police had no information of any planned protests at Anzac Day sites.
The city’s biggest commemoration will be held at Currumbin where tens of thousands of people will gather to remember the fallen as the sun rises over Elephant Rock.
Currumbin RSL president Ron Workman said the ceremony would focus on the journey of Australian servicemen from April 25, 1915 through to this year, the centenary of the final year of World War I.
“It will be a wonderful day and I will be talking about the anniversary of the Great War’s end,” he said. “There will be a visual presentation and footage shown connecting everyone present with the journey from 1915 to 1918.”