Tasmania Police’s Special Operations Group has been doubled in size and made full time, as part of efforts to better protect the state.
An $8.9 million state government investment has enabled the establishment of a full-time SOG, bolstering Tasmania’s ability to respond to high-risk situations involving organised crime, hardened criminals and threats to the state’s way of life.
The recruitment of 10 new full-time members has brought the state’s SOG capability to 20 people.
Police Minister Felix Ellis dubbed the SOG “a crook’s worst nightmare”, saying said the newly-bolstered force will ensure police have the capability to respond to high-risk situations.
“Whether it’s organised crime, hardened criminals, or threats against Tasmania’s way of life, Tasmania’s SOG will be there to protect our State,” Ellis said.
“The establishment of this group sends a strong message: crime won’t be tolerated in Tasmania.”
The highly-trained officers will be equipped to handle a range of security challenges, ensuring the safety and protection of Tasmanians.
Ellis says the SOG also provide “major support” to Tasmania’s general duties police officers and a whole range of different jobs.
“Because we now have this capability full time, ready to roll, they’re providing even more support to our frontline Tasmanian police officers around the state.
The Special Operations Group use a rarely-seen $400,000 armoured rescue vehicle called the BearCat, which was spotted on the state’s roads earlier this year while responding to an isolated incident.
Tasmania Police Assistant Commissioner Adrian Bodnar said the upgrade is a significant step forward for the force.
“The benefit of having a full-time SOG allows us to deploy to serious incidents in the community in a more timely and a more rapid manner,” he said.
“They’re also available to assist our investigators with high risk searches where specialist capability is required and they’re also available for those siege-type situations… as well.”
The news comes today as Australia’s National Terrorism Threat Level has been raised to “probable”.
The Australian Department of Home Affairs say more Australians “are being radicalised, and radicalised quickly.
“They are embracing a more diverse range of extreme ideologies. Anti-authority beliefs are growing; trust in institutions is eroding; provocative and inflammatory behaviours are being normalised,” they said in a statement.
“While you should be more vigilant, you should also have confidence to go about your life – for most of us the change in threat level will have no practical impact.”
