Australian police are being trained to shoot armed extremists on sight rather than the force’s current tactic of "contain and negotiate" following a series of domestic terrorist attacks, writes Jonathan Pearlman in Sydney.
The training programme, based on tactics used by the FBI, has been assigned to officers in the state of New South of Wales, which has the largest force.
"We're at a point now where the ground has shifted, things have changed and starting with Mumbai onwards, there's been any number of attacks where you have a mobile enemy force, which moves through places and kills people," the state’s deputy police commissioner Nick Kaldas told 2UE radio.
"We would be mad to continue to say we will do nothing but contain and negotiate."
Australian authorities have warned of an escalated domestic terror threat following numerous attacks and thwarted plots in the past year.
Mr Kaldas said the changed police approach was not aimed at situations such as cornered armed robbers who do not necessarily intend to die. Instead, he said, it was designed for situations where "you're dealing with someone who is there with a preconceived aim of dying and who wants to kill as many people as they possibly can".
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