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The Star: November 14, 2019

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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong> Thursday <strong>November</strong> <strong>14</strong> <strong>2019</strong><br />

6<br />

NEWS<br />

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />

New Zealand’s darkest day: How<br />

<strong>The</strong> March 15 terror attack<br />

was the largest and most<br />

complex police operation<br />

in New Zealand’s<br />

history. Last week, police<br />

published its annual<br />

report for <strong>2019</strong>, which<br />

revealed the full extent of<br />

its response to the event.<br />

Sophie Cornish reports<br />

DUBBED AS New Zealand’s<br />

darkest day, the March 15 terror<br />

attack, resulted in a significant<br />

deployment of workers both from<br />

around the country and overseas.<br />

<strong>The</strong> FBI, Australian police and<br />

more than 1000 police staff from<br />

outside of the city were involved<br />

in the response, known as Operation<br />

Deans after a gunman<br />

opened fire at Al Noor Mosque<br />

and the Linwood Islamic Centre.<br />

Fifty-one people were killed<br />

and a further 49 people were<br />

wounded.<br />

<strong>The</strong> accused gunman, a<br />

28-year-old Australian man, is<br />

expected to face a two-month<br />

trial in June, after he pleaded not<br />

guilty.<br />

In addition to Canterbury<br />

staff, police deployed 1072<br />

police personnel from other<br />

districts, including 137 staff from<br />

Wellington, 1<strong>14</strong> staff from the<br />

Central District and 324 staff<br />

from service centres and national<br />

headquarters.<br />

<strong>The</strong>ir roles involved community<br />

reassurance, intelligence<br />

collection, investigations, and<br />

planning and logistics both in<br />

Christchurch and at the national<br />

headquarters in Wellington.<br />

Of this 1072, 500 additional<br />

uniformed officers from around<br />

the country were flown into the<br />

city.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y were tasked with guarding<br />

the hospital, burial sites, the<br />

mosques and the prayer and<br />

memorial services.<br />

Outside of Canterbury, hundreds<br />

of additional armed officers<br />

guarded mosques and Islamic<br />

centres throughout the country,<br />

on a 24-hour-a-day roster.<br />

Nationally, this totalled 825<br />

hours per day or equivalent to a<br />

little over 100 full-time staff, for<br />

just this role.<br />

“Staff from all corners of police<br />

volunteered to be a part of the response<br />

– not just front line officers<br />

and investigators, but support<br />

staff who planned rosters, managed<br />

agency liaisons, conducted<br />

wellness and safety checks and<br />

set up computers, log-ins and<br />

phones,” said the report.<br />

Almost 40 firefighters and personnel<br />

from Fire and Emergency<br />

New Zealand helped in police’s<br />

VISITS: A<br />

significant<br />

police security<br />

operation was<br />

launched for<br />

visits from<br />

dignitaries,<br />

including<br />

Prince William<br />

after the<br />

March 15 terror<br />

attack. He<br />

visited victims<br />

in hospital.<br />

PHOTO:<br />

KENSINGTON<br />

PALACE<br />

communications centre.<br />

St John deployed 50 staff to<br />

triage, treat and transport dozens<br />

of patients whose injuries ranged<br />

from minor to those with critical<br />

gunshot wounds.<br />

<strong>The</strong> New Zealand Defence<br />

Force deployed 533 personnel, 13<br />

aircraft, and armoured mobility<br />

assets to assist in the response.<br />

Agencies set up make-shift<br />

offices to specifically to address<br />

the needs of victims and their<br />

families.<br />

<strong>The</strong>se included ACC,<br />

Immigration New Zealand, the<br />

Office of Ethnic Communities,<br />

Emergency Management, and<br />

Victim Support.<br />

“We also received international<br />

support from the FBI and the<br />

Australian Federal Police,” said<br />

the report.<br />

District<br />

Commander<br />

Superintendent<br />

John Price<br />

(left) said the<br />

FBI’s role was<br />

to “provide<br />

strategic advice<br />

on counterterrorism.”<br />

“From their experiences in<br />

the United States. It was purely<br />

around assisting police to understand<br />

the context of it in New<br />

Zealand’s environment,” he said.<br />

Additionally to the response,<br />

police said a large number of resources<br />

were committed to identifying<br />

individuals of concern to<br />

New Zealand’s safety.<br />

“We have seized a number of<br />

firearms as a result of our inquiries<br />

and work is ongoing,” the<br />

report said<br />

About 900 police staff, alongside<br />

NZDF personnel and a significant<br />

number of staff from the<br />

Australian Federal Police assisted<br />

in with the security required<br />

at the National Remembrance<br />

Day Services held on March<br />

29, in Christchurch, Auckland,<br />

Wellington, Dunedin and other<br />

locations.<br />

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