73914 (2024). Hon Ginny Andersen to the Minister of Police

73914 (2024). Hon Ginny Andersen to the Minister of Police: How many incidents have the Armed Offenders Squad been called out to, if any, since September 2024 to date, broken down by month and Police District?

Hon Mark Mitchell: I am advised that there were 281 recorded Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) callouts between 1 September – 15 November 2024. I refer the Member to the attached table, which shows the number of AOS callouts between 1 September and 15 November 2024 by incident district, month and callout type. The callouts included emergency and pre-planned deployments. Emergency deployments are highly dependent on demand and activity, with staff intervening to prevent harm in an immediate critical situation. On the other hand, pre-planned deployments typically involve activity that relates to searching properties to seize unlawfully held weapons or drugs, or locating wanted persons, and may be the culmination of many months or years of preliminary investigations. Pre-planned deployments also include prevention patrols conducted to provide community reassurance and increase the availability of tactically trained staff to support the frontline following significant firearms related local events or heightened periods of gang tensions. This data is drawn from a dynamic operational database and is subject to change as new information is recorded or updated. This is also my response to Written Parliamentary Question 73927 (2024).