{"id":6755,"date":"2024-07-29T09:42:42","date_gmt":"2024-07-28T23:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anchoramconsulting.com\/in\/?p=6755"},"modified":"2024-07-29T09:42:42","modified_gmt":"2024-07-28T23:42:42","slug":"active-armed-offender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anchoramconsulting.com\/in\/blog\/2024\/07\/29\/active-armed-offender\/","title":{"rendered":"Active Armed Offender"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although the term Active Armed Offender (AAO) is relatively new in its definition, incidents involving an AAO are not.<\/p>\n

In recent years, particularly since the Al Qaeda led terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, terrorists have engaged in active armed offender attacks globally. Most people relate the term terrorism to Islamic fundamentalism because of the global attacks, however, terrorism as defined in Australia relates to an act or threat which is intended to advance a political, ideological, or religious cause (www.aph.gov.au<\/a>) so it\u2019s not confined to religious extremism only.<\/p>\n

When reflecting on examples of AAO attacks in Australia they don\u2019t always emanate from a violent extremist ideology but may also involve an individual with a serious fixation and\/or serious mental health issue or motivated by hatred, revenge or criminal intent (www.police.wa.gov.au<\/u><\/a>) such as the \u2018Hoddle Street massacre (1987)\u2019 in Victoria which saw 7 people killed and 19 injured, or the \u2018Port Arthur massacre (1996)\u2019 in Tasmania which saw 35 people killed and 23 injured, and more recently the \u2018Bondi Junction attack\u2019 which resulted in the death of 6 people. Although AAO attacks are not always related to violent extremist ideology, the impact on the community is just as significant.<\/p>\n

In 1996 following the Port Arthur massacre the then Prime Minister John Howard introduced reforms to Australia\u2019s gun laws to improve public safety, which included the banning of military-style firearms and a buyback program for unregistered, illegal, and unwanted firearms and more recently in Western Australia, the \u2018WA Firearms Act Reform Voluntary Buyback Scheme (2024)\u2019 has an allocated $64 million dollars in funding to compensate firearm licence holders for voluntarily surrendering firearms. Although these initiatives contribute towards a reduction in the use of firearms in violent incidents, including AAO attacks, it does not discount their availability and use. The increasing use of edged weapons in AAO attacks is noticeable with the recent Boni Junction attacks but also within, or outside shopping centres across the country. Knives or edged weapons are easily accessible and can be as simple but effective as a kitchen knife.<\/p>\n

In 2017 the Australia-New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee released guidelines (\u2018Active Armed Offender Guidelines for Crowded Places\u2019) designed to assist owners and operators of crowded places to be more alive to the threat posed by AAO\u2019s, whilst also providing a degree of guidance on measures to mitigate the risk. One critical component of the guidelines for those responsible for the safety and protection of places of mass gathering is the \u2018Prevent, Preparedness, Response and Recovery (PPRR)\u2019 which provides guidance on what measures can be implemented to \u00a0minimise the offender\u2019s access to potential victims whilst contact with police is made. Associations such as the National Retail Association (www.nationalretail.org.au<\/u><\/a>) along with other associations and organisations have reinforced the national guidelines through their own set of guidelines which are relative to their work or operating environment, and generally capture the \u2018Escape\u2019 \u2018Hide\u2019 \u2018Tell\u2019 principles:<\/p>\n