Armed hate crime unit becomes permanent after Bondi
A heavily-armed rapid response unit, deployed after the Bondi Beach terror attack to counter hate-driven violence, is now a permanent part of policing.
Stones at the Bondi memorial
A heavily-armed rapid response unit is now a permanent fixture of policing, after it was created to counter hate-driven violence following the Bondi Beach terror attack.
About 250 NSW Police officers will transform Operation Shelter, established in 2023 to crackdown on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, into a lasting dedicated hate crime unit.
The Australian-first unit means police will be out and about with long-range firearms to patrol high-profile public buildings, places of worship and protests around Sydney with a 24/7 specialised police operations centre to back them up.
The centre will support the unit with real-time co-ordination and surge management, including training, logistics and intelligence to sharpen targeting and prevention.
They will also be equipped with a fleet of specially modified rapid-response vehicles.
The decision comes two months after 15 people were killed by two gunmen on 14 December in the worst terror attack in Australia’s modern history.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said installing a permanent structure for Operation Shelter, instead of rotating officers from various commands, was necessary so police were always ready.
“People want to see police where it matters, at major events, near places of worship and in busy public spaces,” he said on Wednesday.
“This ensures that presence is consistent, because our security challenges have changed and our policing model needs to change with them.”
The premier has taken aim particularly at weekly pro-Palestine protests saying it had stretched police resources and disrupted community harmony.
He ratcheted up his comments after the Bondi massacre saying “words lead to actions”.
Mr Minns passed a suite of extraordinary protest restrictions, that were lifted earlier in February after the controversial visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog following violent clashes that prompted an independent probe into police conduct.
A senior police delegation travelled in January to Germany and the United Kingdom to study best practice which found the state’s “temporary surge operations” needed to be formalised.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said the trailblazing unit with long-arm capability was essential in moving from a reactive to a pro-active policing model.
“Our priority is not only ensuring the community is safe, but that people also feel safe, while providing a deterrence to anyone who wants to do harm and support our frontline operational police,” he said.
Latest figures from Operation Shelter recorded 815 incidents considered anti-Semitic or Islamophobic in nature as well as other incidents that fall into neither category, with more than 230 people arrested.
But doubts have been cast about the accuracy and veracity of numbers after it was revealed nearly 370 anti-Semitic incidents were incorrectly categorised dozens of times.
Recently retired deputy police commissioner Peter Thurtell told a parliamentary inquiry in April 2025 that the figures recorded were a “loose capture” of all incidents referred to law enforcement and was “not an exact science.”
By: Farid Farid and Allanah Sciberras/AAP
