Victoria Police Special Operations Group

Special Operations Group
Active 1977 - Present
Country Australia Australia
Branch Victoria Police
Role Law Enforcement and domestic Counter-Terrorism
Part of Security Services Division
Garrison/HQ Melbourne
Nickname(s) Sons of God [1]
Soggies
Motto(s) "Blessed are the peacemakers" from Matthew 5:9 [1]
Engagements Port Arthur massacre, Melbourne gangland killings

The Special Operations Group (SOG) is the Police Tactical Group of the Victoria Police who wear iconic black coveralls synonymous of the SOG.

History

The SOG was formed in secrecy on 31 October 1977 by Chief Commissioner Mick Miller to establish a group to conduct special operations in regard to counter terrorism that would be directed towards preventative/protective security and combatting operations. Terrorism meaning politically motivated criminal activity as well as other forms of criminal activity which terrorise innocent persons. [2] The first the public was aware of the existence of the SOG was by an article in The Age newspaper in 1980. [3]

In 1992, the Nine Network screened a documentary on the SOG selection course that included long runs, interspersed with scoffing warm beer and meat pies until the volunteers threw up. [1]

In 1995, following a review of the SOG as part of Project Beacon, safety-first tactics were introduced along with less-than-lethal equipment with force to be used as a last resort. [4] [5] [6]

In 1996, the SOG became the first Police Tactical Group to deploy interstate, with twelve officers urgently sent to Tasmania via charter plane to assist the part-time Tasmania Police Special Operations Group to respond to the Port Arthur massacre. [7] [8] [9] [10]

In 2003, the Bomb Response Unit (BRU) was established with dedicated officers within the SOG who had always provided a bomb search and disposal capability to Victoria Police. [11]

In 2004, the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) was formed to respond to high risk non-firearm incidents to reduce the SOG workload. [12] Such as a call out in September 1998 when the SOG disarmed a sword-wielding mentally ill man in a two hour stand off in front of a 2000-strong crowd near Flinders Street station. [13] Earlier in 1995 during the SOG Review, there had been a proposal for two SOG teams consisting of four officers to patrol Melbourne similar to CIRT. [14]

In 2011, the SOG responded to 4 sieges, conducted 10 forced building entries, conducted 54 high-risk arrests and mobile intercepts, and 36 cordon-and-call operations. [1]

In 2016, it was announced that the SOG strength would be increased by 20 new officers. [15] Earlier in 2010, the strength of the unit had been cut to expand CIRT. [16] [17] It was also reported that in 2016 the SOG may obtain a new capability with their own tactical dog. [18]

The SOG has two nicknames Soggies and the Sons of God, the latter a backronym made from the initials SOG. [1] The unofficial SOG emblem is telescopic crosshairs superimposed over a balaclava-clad head on an outline of Australia. [19]

Notable recent incidents include the fatal shooting of Mohamed Chaouk in April 2005 in Brooklyn, Wayne Joannou in February 2005 in South Melbourne, and earlier the fatal shooting of Norman Leung Lee in July 1992 at Melbourne Airport, the manhunt for Melbourne Remand Centre escapees in March 1993 near Jamieson, resolving a siege at a law firm in Mitcham in June 1996 with tear gas and a siege in Kangaroo Flat in October 1999 in which four uniform officers had been wounded. [20] [21] [22]

The SOG is part of the Security Services Division of the Transit & Public Safety command within Victoria Police.

Principal roles

The SOG roles include, but are not limited to:-

  1. Armed offender [23] [24] [25]
  2. Terrorism or significant politically motivated violence [23] [24] [25]
  3. Unplanned operational critical incidents, such as situations involving armed offenders including sieges and hostage situations [23] [24]
  4. Planned operations involving the arrest of dangerous suspects [23] [24]
  5. Undertaking searches of premises in high risk situations (level three) [25]
  6. Bomb related incidents [23] [24] [25]
  7. Covert surveillance or reconnaissance beyond the scope of operational police [25]

The SOG has different teams based in Melbourne, led by a Senior Sergeant (who mainly handles administration and major operations). There are then team supervisors, led by Sergeants. These teams are co-ordinated and dispatched accordingly, by the respective police service area - local area commanders (Inspectors) upon request and liaison with the SOG commander (Inspector) and/or team managers (Senior Sergeants).

As can be expected, the SOG is the upper level of major incident response, after general duties (uniform) and the CIRT, who don't have the skills, experience and/or training needed for the situation. Hence, the dispatch of such unit is handled with authority and care. Sometimes teams from the unit may have to travel long distances (i.e.) regional Victoria.

Training

Volunteers for the SOG need to successfully complete a two week selection course, and if successful, must then successfully complete a 12 week training course. [18] [26] [19][27]

Equipment

The SOG use a variety of specialised weapons and equipment including variants of the M4 Carbine, replacing the Steyr AUG and the Heckler & Koch MP5, and use the Heckler & Koch USP handgun chambered in .45 ACP caliber.

In April 2013, the SOG took delivery of a Lenco BearCat armoured rescue vehicle provided by the Federal Government to all Australian police jurisdictions. [28] [29] Since 2009, the SOG has used a Canadian made Armet Armored Vehicles Balkan Mk7. [30] [31] The Balkan replaced the British made Composite Armoured Vehicle (CAV) 100 Land Rover Defender acquired in 1995 after being imported for trialling by the Special Air Service Regiment. [32]

In 2014, an SOG operation involved the use of an Australian made Bushmaster armoured vehicle with police decals and Victorian number plate. [33] In 2016, the acquisition of a new heavy armoured vehicle and three new bulletproof vehicles was announced. [15]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Silvester, John (20 October 2012). "Forget forgiveness from these 'Sons of God'". The Age. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
  2. Miller, Mick (31 October 1977). Special Operations Group. Chief Commissioner Memorandum.
  3. Murdoch, Lindsay (21 February 1980). "Police link to spy agencies". The Age. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  4. Silvester, John (5 March 1995). "Role of elite police unit under review". The Sunday Age.
  5. Winkler, Tim (29 August 1995). "Police to train in non-lethal intervention". The Age.
  6. "Police to rely less on guns". Sydney Morning Herald. 29 August 1995.
  7. "Elite police group pushes hard to find the right stuff". ABC. 1999-10-15. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
  8. "Police speak about Port Arthur murderer". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 April 2006. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  9. Knight, Hannah. "Remembering the horror of the Port Arthur massacre". Bendigo Advertiser. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  10. Silvester, John. "Naked city: Special Ops vet and Patch do the hard yards". Sydney Morning Herald. The Age - 13 September 2014. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  11. Kaila, Jon. "Behind the scenes of Victoria Police's elite bomb squad". Herald Sun. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  12. Shuey (Ret.), Assistant Commissioner Ray. "Victoria - Police Practice in Other Jurisdictions". Barr Tribunal Report (Ireland) 2006. Damien Mulley. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  13. Carson, Andrea (8 September 1998). "Crowd antics abysmal, say police". The Age.
  14. Silvester, John (3 June 1995). "Ideas to counter terror". The Sunday Age.
  15. 1 2 "More Than 400 New Police For Crime Crack Down". Premier of Victoria. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  16. "Police trim a third off terror unit". The Age. 8 April 2010.
  17. "SOG bears the brunt of police shortages" (PDF). Victorian Police Association Journal (May 2010). Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  18. 1 2 Carnovale, Maria. "In the black". Police Life - the Victoria Police magazine (Autumn 2016). Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  19. 1 2 "One false move...". The Age. 16 October 2005. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  20. Petrie, Andrea. "Policeman fired fatal shot after attack". The Age. 6 April 2005.
  21. Anderson, Paul. "Inside the shooting death of murder suspect Wayne Joannou by Victoria's elite Special Operations Group aka the 'Sons of God'". Herald Sun. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  22. "Victoria Police Special Operations Group (SOG) now 'The Peacemakers' after a string of fatal shootings". Herald Sun. 21 August 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 "Review of fatal shootings by Victoria Police / report of the Director, Police Integrity" (PDF). Office of Police Integrity. November 2005. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 "Special Operations Group". Victoria Police. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 "106-2 SOG attendance". Victoria Police Manual. 5 March 2007.
  26. Houghton, Janae. "Have you got the skills for the SOG". Police Life - the Victoria Police magazine (Winter 2012). Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  27. Erbrederis, Anna. "So you want to be in the SOG". Police Life - the Victoria Police magazine (October 2008). Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  28. "'BearCat' to assist police in hostile situations". ABC. 12 April 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  29. "The Bearcat". Police Life - the Victoria Police magazine. Spring 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  30. "Balkan Safety Rescue Vehicle". Police Life - the Victoria Police magazine (December 2009). Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  31. "Armet Balkan - Australian Police.mpg". Armet Armored Vehicles. Youtube. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  32. "Armoured Land-Rovers". Land Rovers. Lloyd Allison. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  33. "Armoured Vehicle in Brunswick". Jodie Miners. Storify. Retrieved 27 July 2016.

Further reading

  • McCulloch, Jude (2001). Blue army : paramilitary policing in Australia. Carlton South, Vic: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0522849601. 

External links

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