“An Escalation In State Violence”: New Heavily Armed Police Unit Training On Sydney Streets

The NSW Government has announced NSW Police’s new Armed Response Command (ARC) will now be training on the streets of Sydney with military-style rifles, following the 2025 Bondi Beach terrorist attack, with some saying that ARC is “an escalation in state violence.”

After months of private training, NSW Premier Chris Minns said that “people will start seeing these officers and their vehicles around Sydney as training gets underway”.

Once the Armed Response Command is officially launched, they will be a permanent rapid response unit, patrol high-risk areas and increase police presence in locations like places of worship and at major events.

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said that “ARC will not only provide a policing rapid response, but it will also be a deterrent for those who wish to commit harm, incite hatred or cause fear.”

Greens MP and spokesperson for Justice Sue Higginson has said in a press release that the ARC “is by definition an intimidation unit”.

She said that she is “alarmed by the commentary of Commissioner Mal Lanyon that the threat of being shot by police should act as a deterrent to ‘harm’ or ‘hatred’.”

The Armed Response Command is part of Operation Shelter, which was first launched in October 2023 following increased antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in the community. The Armed Response Command will take Operation Shelter from a reactive operation, to a permanent one, with 250 total officers rotating on duty around the clock.

“These officers are highly trained, with specialist equipment, purpose-built vehicles and a live operation centre. What we’re delivering is a rapid, 24/7 response that the community should have confidence in,” said Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley.

More guns on our streets?

The Minns Labor Government announced that the Armed Response Command will build on their previous reforms aimed at protecting the community, including introducing strict gun reforms to remove firearms from the community, but Higginson said that the Armed Response Command will put “more long arm rifles into circulation”.

“NSW Labor claim to care about reducing gun violence when they attack the Liberals, but here they are sending more long arm rifles into circulation in a move that proves the Minns Labor Government cares about political point scoring more than community safety,” said Higginson.

“It’s political failure of the Minns Labor Government that they will now wave weapons of death around our streets and put the fear of police violence into our communities. To believe you can intimidate your way to community cohesion is authoritarian and draconian.”