CASE STUDY
REGIONAL FOCUS
Case Study
COUNTER TERRORISM POLICING IN NEW ZEALAND
Counter terrorism in New Zealand is overseen by the Officials Committee for Domestic and External Security Coordination (ODESC). The ODESC reports to the Prime Minister and is made up of government and non- government agencies which work together to manage New Zealand's wider counter terrorism efforts. New Zealand is a very low risk country for terrorist attacks, but that does not mean it is immune from the threat. The Police Commissioner, currently Peter Marshall, is accountable for the operational response to terrorism, which is the responsibility of the New Zealand Police (NZP).
Police CT operations Following the 11th September 2001 attacks, the Cabinet approved police funding for a range of counter terrorist measures, in early 2002. New positions established to increase capability include: an Assistant Commissioner to take an executive lead on counter terrorism and national security matters, a Special Tactics Group, a Specialist Search Group and National Bomb Data Centre Manager, a new Strategic Intelligence Unit (SIU), new liaison positions at diplomatic missions in London, Washington DC, Jakarta, Suva and Beijing (in addition to its existing liaisons in Canberra, Sydney and
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Bangkok) and additional police at six New Zealand airports. Police are responsible for coordinating requests to the Prime Minister for designating groups as a terrorist entity.
There is close interaction between the Police and intelligence agencies, such as the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service(NZSIS), of which the police is a member of its Combined Threat Assessment Group, to ensure a co-ordinated approach to national security and counter terrorism. Police are present at the country’s international airports and also work closely with agencies such as Customs and Immigration.
Other Police units involved in counter terrorism include: the Special Tactics Groups (STG) which provides tactical capability, deals with armed incidents beyond the capability of the Armed Offender Squads, and provides protection to high risk individuals; Armed Offender Squads (AOS) which provides armed response to incidents involving actual and suspected firearms; Specialist Search Group (SSG) which searches for Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and has been used in all major security operations including the 1990 Commonwealth Games; Diplomatic Protection Squad (DPS) which provides personal protection for government
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