A 24/7 police squad should be set up to help police deal with armed offenders, which could include lone wolf terrorist attacks, a union official has argued.
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Senior Sergeant Phil Notaro, regional representative for the Queensland Police Union's south-east region, made the comments in response to training being rolled out to officers to help them deal with the threat of terrorism and "active armed offenders".
Senior Sergeant Notaro said he believed Queensland Police needed highly trained response officers somewhere between regular general duties and plain-clothes police and the Special Emergency Response Team.
"Armed Offender Response Units, I would suggest, made up of OST [Operational Skills and Tactics] instructors and PSRT [Public Safety Response Team], to be on the road 24/7 to be able to respond to any incidents, so that general duties and plain-clothes officers are not required to enter unless there is simply no alternative available," he wrote in the latest QPU Journal.
The training is designed to equip frontline officers, who are often the first on the scene, with tactics to neutralise lone wolf attackers.
Rather than concentrating on isolation and containment, armed police are shown how to go forward towards an armed offender to reduce or suppress the threat.
Senior Sergeant Notaro was supportive of the training after receiving it at Logan late last year and said it was good to learn new skills.
But he said two days was not enough to acquire and maintain the skills needed to resolve an active armed offender situation.
Senior Sergeant Notaro also criticised the decision not to include the service's semi-automatic Remington R4 rifles in the training.
"Someone, somewhere, made the decision not to incorporate the rifle, the best bit of kit available to general duties police, despite the fact that they will be deployed in a real-life situation," he wrote.
"Whatever happened to 'train like you play'? Muscle memory? We are teaching one thing while knowing that in real life, something completely different will occur.
"Overseas training of AAO incorporates teams of four, with at least one officer, and sometimes two, armed with long arms. Yet this concept, which is the reality, has been completely ignored."
It is anticipated that all frontline police officers will be "AAO ready" by the end of 2017.
A police spokeswoman said all training was subject to ongoing review, including the length of time assigned, in light of a range of factors.
"In order to provide the best possible response to future AAO situations, QPS will continue to assess operational equipment, including the R4 rifle, for training and deployment," she said.
"At this time, QPS is focused on ensuring all police officers have the required training and are equipped to respond to all calls for service, including AAO response.
"This approach is appropriate given the current national threat level and the current demands of the operational policing environment.
"Should future threats or events require additional capability, QPS will respond accordingly."
