Australian Protective Service
The Australian Protective Service (APS) was an Australian Commonwealth agency which existed between 1984 and 2004. The APS was created by the separation of the Protective Service component of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) into a new agency based upon recommendations contained in the Stewart Royal Commission of Inquiry into Drug Trafficking.[1] It was initially responsible for protecting personnel and property of the Australian government, foreign diplomatic missions and Internationally Protected Persons (IPPs) and the provision of custodial services at immigration detention centres. From 1990 the APS commenced providing Counter Terrorist First Response duties at certain security-designated airports including the specialist Bomb Appraisal Officer function and, following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, deployed Air Security Officers (ASOs - often referred to as 'Air Marshals') on board Australian registered commercial aircraft. Close Personal Protection (CPP), or bodyguard, functions were never provided by the APS; where this has been a Commonwealth responsibility, the function is provided by the AFP.
The staff and functions of the APS were reintegrated into the AFP in 2004 as part of Australian Government efforts to better coordinate the response to terrorism.[2]
History
The Australian Protective Service (APS) was established in 1984 when 420 Constables transferred over from the Australian Federal Police.
The APS follows a tradition which goes back through its immediate predecessor (the Protective Service component of the Australian Federal Police), the uniformed branch of the former Commonwealth Police and further to that, the former Peace Officer Guard. What follows is a brief history of the Commonwealth Law Enforcement and Security Service which has led up to the inception of the Australian Protective Service (APS).
Australian's first Commonwealth Police Force was short lived - surviving only two years between December 1917 and 1919 being set up following an altercation between the then Prime Minister of Australia, William Morris (Billie) Hughes and a heckler at a rally in Queensland after local police sergeant declined to become involved 'in a Federal matter'. In later years discussions between Commonwealth government and state authorities resulted in the birth of the Commonwealth Investigation Service - a plainclothes unit with the responsibility of conducting investigations into specific breaches of Commonwealth legislation. The early 1930s saw the formation of the Peace Officer Guard with the aim of protecting Commonwealth property and interests. The Peace Officer Guard (POG) operated at such establishments as munitions factories, research facilities and certain Commonwealth Government departments. The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) came into existence in 1949, absorbing some of the functions of the Commonwealth Investigations Service and assuming new areas of responsibilities. The Commonwealth Police was re-formed in 1960, absorbing both Peace Officer Guards and Commonwealth Investigations Service officers. In 1975 the most ambitious plan to restructure Australia's national police service was attempted by the Commonwealth Government. An amalgamation of Commonwealth Police, Northern Territory Police and Australian Capital Territory Police forces, Department of Customs and Excise and Special Reports Branch of the Department of Immigration would have produced the "Australia Police". However, the amalgamation was abandoned later the same year following a change of Government. The bombing of the Hilton Hotel in Sydney during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) on 13 February 1978 prompted the Federal Government to commission an inquiry into Australia's national police service by former London Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Robert Mark. As a consequence of this inquiry, on 19 October 1979, the Commonwealth Police and the Australian Capital Police Forces were amalgamated to form the Australian Federal Police which, shortly after, was expanded to assume the functions of the former Narcotics Section of the Bureau of Customs.
The Australian Federal Police was initially established as a two component force, with General Policing and Protective components. As previously mentioned, prior to 1960, Federal Law Enforcement was carried out by two organisations, the Commonwealth Investigative Service and Peace Officer Guard. The primary function of the Protective Service Component of the AFP was to continue the duties which were originally laid down for the POG. On 14 December 1983 the federal government decided that the Protective Service Component of the AFP should be abolished and a separate, dedicated protective security service established. Subsequently the Australian Federal Police (Amendment) ACt 1984 was passed by Federal Parliament and came into force on 19 October 1984. This resulted in the abolition of the Protective Service Component and on day one (20 October 1984) the establishment of the Australian Protective Service resulted with the transfers of 420 Constables under Section 9f of the Public Service Act.
The Australian Protective Service was the Commonwealth Government's specialist custodial, protective security and Counter Terrorist law enforcement agency. Plain clothed operations were normally restricted to members of the NSW Region Escort Response Group (ERG) and the more recently introduced Air Security Officers (Sky Marshals). However, Protective Service members in locations such as Darwin, deployed regularly in the mid to late 90s to escort Immigration detainees, usually in civilian attire to blend in on domestic aircraft.
The APS was responsible for the protection of property in which the Commonwealth, a foreign country or an international organisation has an interest in, persons holding office under the Commonwealth, their families and internationally protected persons. The APS also operated some functions in the contestable private sector area. With the sale of Australian airport facilities the APS contracted for the provision of Counter Terrorism First Response (CTFR) role to the airport operators.
Unlike other law enforcement agencies, the APS had limited internal honors and awards, the most coveted being the Australian Protective Service Directors Award handed out by the head of the Agency the APS Director.
Post the September 11 terror attacks the Commonwealth Government conducted a review and as a result decided to combine both the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the APS in order to ensure the closest possible co-ordination between two of Australia's key counter terrorist agencies and on 1 July 2004 the Australian Protective Service merged into the AFP, becoming an Operating Division. It was then renamed the Australian Federal Police Protective Service and is now known as the Australian Federal Police Uniformed Protection.
At the time of its full integration to the AFP on 1 July 2004, the Protective Service had 1327 employees.
Present
The Australian Protective Service Amendment Bill 2002 was introduced into the Parliament with the intention of making the Australian Protective Service (APS) become an operating division of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on 1 July 2002. The legislation passed and full integration took effect from 1 July 2004. The role is now known as Australian Federal Police Uniformed Protection. Protective Service is a function which now falls under Aviation Security and Protection in the AFP. AFP Uniformed Protection officers are referred to as "Protective Service Officers" (PSOs) Their primary functions are protection at selected sensitive sites across Australia including Parliament House, Diplomatic Protection and Defence. PSOs, whilst not sworn police, do have specialised powers under the Australian Federal Police Act 1979 (powers of arrest for Commonwealth Offences relating to Commonwealth property.)
Roles and functions
Some of the key roles undertaken by the APS included:
- High level security at the residences of the Governor-General and the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia
- Protection of Parliament House, and the Office of the Prime Minister
- Protection of foreign embassies and consulate offices within Australia (such as the United States Diplomatic mission to Australia)
- Protection of sensitive defence establishments, including Defence Headquarters at Russell Offices in Canberra; the joint Australian/US communications facility at Pine Gap in the Northern Territory; the former atomic testing site at Maralinga in South Australia; the Australian Defence Signals facility at Geraldton and the naval communications station at Exmouth, both in Western Australia
- Protection of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) at Lucas Heights and other sensitive nuclear storage facilities.
- Perform security and escort protection for Commonwealth VIPs.
- Deployment of Air Security Officers (ASOs) aboard Australian-registered commercial passeneger aircraft.
- Augmentation of security at other facilities or for designated operations, including during protest activity at immigration detention centres and as part of the security arrangements for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Queensland in 2001.
In 2007, the APEC Summit hosted in various Australian states and cities including Sydney had AFPPS involvement regarding enforcement and protection as world leaders including John Howard, George W. Bush and other government and economic leaders will be in attendance.
The ASO program
In response to the 11 September incidents, the Commonwealth instituted an Air Security Officer Program under the APS.[3] These employees are generally referred to in the media as Sky Marshals.[4] The ASO Programme provides a discreet anti-hijacking capability for Australian civil aviation by providing armed security personnel on board aircraft.[3] This involves both random and intelligence-led placement of armed ASOs on flights operated by Australian registered air carriers, including domestic and international flights into and out of Australia.
The program draws from a pool of applicants that includes Defence Force personnel and employees of State Police Forces and the AFP but must be sworn as PSO's for the AFP.
Peacekeeping
A reflection of the AFP's international obligations is its peacekeeping role. The AFP's peacekeeping efforts are principally focused on the Pacific where the organisation assists in the law-enforcing efforts of many sovereign nations. As such, AFP Protective Service Officers are routinely deployed overseas to assist with peacekeeping operations in the Solomon Islands.
Protective Service Officers were deployed along with other Australian law enforcement officers in the Solomon Islands as part of RAMSI. The peacekeeping force suffered their first casualty on 22 December 2004 when PSO1 Adam Dunning was shot and killed while deployed on official duties in the Solomon Islands. Two former members of a local militia were charged but acquitted of Dunning's murder.[5] Officer Dunning was buried with full police honours.
The main street of a new AFP training village in Canberra was named Adam Dunning Drive in his memory.[6] The $2.8 million training facility at Mount Majura just outside Canberra, has been designed to replicate situations in regional countries to which personnel might be assigned.
Notes
- ^ Australian Parliament House website p.1. Accessed on 14 July 2008
- ^ Australian Parliament House website Accessed on 14 July 2008
- ^ a b "Budget 2002-2003: Counter Terrorism measures" (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. 2002. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
- ^ "Cost row hits sky marshals". The Age. 24 December 2003. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
- ^ "Verdict disappoints police". Solomon Star. 15 May 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
- ^ "Dunning remembered in training complex". The Age. 23 June 2005. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
See also
References
- Parliament of Australia (9 February 2004). "Australian Federal Police & Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2003: Digest of Bill". Department of the Parliamentary Services. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Parliament of Australia (4 March 1987). "Australian Protective Service Bill 1986: Digest of Bill" (pdf). Legislative Research Service. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
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