Australia Boosts Counter-terrorism Police Presence At Airports

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Friday that additional police officers will be deployed to nine airports in the country over the next 18 months along with more firearm and explosive detection canine handlers

CANBERRA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Dec, 2019 ) :Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Friday that additional police officers will be deployed to nine airports in the country over the next 18 months along with more firearm and explosive detection canine handlers.

The extra police will include members of the Australian Federal Police's new Protection Operation Response Team (PORT), who will be armed with rifles and trained in "hostile threat and behavior assessment." "We will take no chances when it comes to keeping the community safe and these new enforcement officers will now have increased firearms and protection capabilities to respond to a changing crime environment," Morrison said.

"These highly-trained officers run towards dangerous incidents, not away from them, and it is vital they have every resource necessary to help them do their job and protect the community."The funding for the new officers comes from a package of 107 million Australian Dollars (73.1 million U.S. dollars) to strengthen airport security announced in the federal budget for 2018-19.