US could do the same. B http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22832215-5006009,00.html
Average Joes on terror guard MEET Australia's latest weapons in the war on terror - a florist, shop assistant and a publican. The frontline of the fight against terrorism just got a whole lot closer to home, with police recruiting shopkeepers and businesses to be the eyes and ears of the community. The country's biggest counter-terrorism initiative - secureNSW - is being rolled out across the state. Businesses on tourist strips, bars, restaurants, hotels, transport hubs and shopping centres - the sort of places targeted by terrorists overseas - are being asked to be on guard and report anything suspicious. The aim is to raise awareness of the terrorist threat as police work with businesses to develop security, making the community less vulnerable to attack and saving lives. It is the first time the elite NSW Counter-Terrorism and Special Tactics Command has gone public since it was quietly set up in the wake of the 9/11 attack and the 2002 Bali bombings. Backed by website http://www.secure.nsw.gov.au, <http://www.secure.nsw.gov.au,/> the initiative is an additional safeguard to the security blanket already thrown over transport, banks and major institutions. Counter terrorism commander Assistant Commissioner Nick Kaldas said Australia's geographic isolation had perpetuated the idea an attack would not happen here. "We can't give people a guarantee a terrorist attack won't happen and the aim of secureNSW is to counter terrorism, not to create community disharmony," Mr Kaldas said yesterday. "The challenge we have in NSW is that not only do we have to service the biggest capital city in Australia, the most populous state and the largest economy, but we are also serving an area three times the size of the UK." Emmanuel Theoharis, who has run the Eddy Avenue Florist at Central Railway Station for 37 years, is happy to be part of the plan. "The police do a good job but they can't be everywhere," he said. Terry O'Neill, licensee of the Mercantile Hotel at The Rocks, and QVB's Revenge fashion shop assistant Layla Yavuz also believe the initiative is a good idea. Police Minister David Campbell said the state had learned lessons from the attacks on the US, Bali, Madrid and London. The NSW counter-terrorism squad has been swapping resources with counterparts overseas, including the NYPD Shield program and London's Project Griffin and CommunitySafe. A business contact unit has been set up under the control of Sergeant Gina Mitchell. Westfield's national security manager - former New York police chief Mike Julian - said secureNSW was exactly what business wanted. "We wanted advice, we wanted to know about best practices, we wanted to know about the research _through the website we can share it," Mr Julian said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
