National counter-terrorism exercise - 'Black Angus'

Senior NSW Police have commended the work of agencies involved in the national counter terrorism exercise held at Sydney Olympic Park yesterday, branding "Black Angus" an invaluable experience.

More than 1,100 personnel from the NSW Police Force, NSW Rural Fire Service, Fire and Rescue NSW, the NSW Ambulance Service, the NSW State Emergency Service, and the Australian Defence Force took part in the mock operation, designed to test response arrangements during a terrorist incident.

"Black Angus" is the latest in a series of scenario-based exercises, jointly sponsored by the Commonwealth and State governments.

Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas, Commander of Specialist Operations, said it was vital that police and other agencies continually hone their skills in highly realistic environments.

"Incidents overseas in the past few years have shown that we must be ready for any contingency," Mr Kaldas said.

"While the threat level has not risen, we cannot afford to be complacent," he added.

"The key to responding quickly and appropriately to scenarios like "Black Angus" is co-operation between the various agencies. The fact that volunteers from a range of agencies gave up their time on a long weekend is a testament to the commitment of emergency service personnel.

"I would like to also thank the management of ANZ Stadium and Sydney Olympic Park at Homebush for allowing us to use their venues. This ensured realism in our training was maintained.

"This scenario was designed to take us outside our comfort zone and challenge our response in every way," the Deputy Commissioner said.

"Our national and state counter-terrorism agencies do a fantastic job in identifying and dealing with potential threats but the people of Australia would also expect us to act swiftly and deliberately in the event of an incident."

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[ilovescottehh]

i was theree :)

[Rozzas3]

@mixxxer why leave counter terrorism to the SASR, a group that wasnt made for counter terrorism? the counter terrorist squad in NSW is the Tactical operations unit. and of course, they will need help from any armed and trained organisation in the area

[mixxxer]

@andtheniwasphone So you're suggesting that all SASR units are in Afghanistan?

[ALPHAFIVETWOFIVE]

@mixxxer not sure SASR can respond from Perth to Homebush in a timely manner for such a scenrio. Unless you're suggesting the police sit around and wait several hours while people are killed?

[andtheniwasphone]

@mixxxer And how can the SASR protect our borders when they're off fighting in the middle-east?

[mixxxer]

Leave counter-terrorism to the SASR guys..

[meinwest]

The place was almost empty cant see how this helped you learn how to do it better.

maybe have 30,000 people in there and then practice...