UNIFORM police officers in Ballarat will be trained to use semi-automatic rifles so they are prepared if a terrorist attack occurs in regional Victoria.
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Victoria Police announced the move on Thursday morning, stating the 300 new weapons would be distributed throughout the state from mid next year in order to expand the police's ability to respond to active armed offenders and terrorist attacks outside of Melbourne.
Ballarat police will be among more than 700 police officers from the Public Order Response Team (PORT) and three other 24-hour regional stations - Geelong, Morwell and Shepparton - who will be trained to use the rifles in response to critical incidents.
While PORT was selected to receive the rifles as they are a frontline support which can be deployed around the state in response to major events or high risk issues, the four regional stations were strategically selected to ensure a serious incident in regional Victoria is responded to without the need to wait for support from Melbourne.
The weapons will be supplied through Huntsman Aus. They will not be issued to individual police officers, rather, they will be delegated each shift.
Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said the introduction of the weapons would strengthen police's capabilities when responding to critical incidents and followed the roll out of active armed offender training to all police officers.
In late October police were given greater powers to stop a hostile vehicle attack, including to ram an offending vehicle or to shoot an offender if they pose a significant risk.
There have been a number of recent incidents of drivers ramming into police cars in Ballarat, including earlier this week.
Deputy Commissioner Patton said while it would be a "sad day" if the rifles were used, police needed to be prepared if an armed offender or terrorist attack was to occur in regional Victoria.
He said that police officers would not be patrolling the streets with rifles as part of their general duties.
"Unless they are responding to a critical incident, the rifles will be securely stored at the police station or in vehicles and the community won't see them," Deputy Commissioner Patton said.
The roll out of the weapons is funded by a $25 million investment from the Victorian Government.
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