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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