Law Enforcement Contribution to National Security
National Security Australia 2009 speech, 23 March 2009 Sydney
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While the first decade of the 21st Century has been overshadowed by the looming fear of terrorism, some commentators see that the next decade may be dominated by the ongoing impacts of the current financial crisis. Certainly its effects will be long-lasting and wide reaching, in ways that cannot always be anticipated.
Notwithstanding that, Mumbai, Lahore and the ongoing challenges in Afghanistan are reminders that there is still plenty to do on the counter-terrorism front.
It remains to be seen that if the global financial crisis continues, it could create levels of social unrest and political instability that could undermine security in some parts of the world. It’s an issue that has been taxing the mind of America’s intelligence chief Dennis Blair – who recently told Congress that the current crisis, rather than terrorism, is now the foremost security threat to the United States.
This is a major shift in thinking, especially after ten years in which it could be argued that the term “National Security” was more often than not used as a synonym for “counter-terrorism.”
It is a shift that the Prime Minister foreshadowed when making his first national security statement to the Australian Parliament, when he outlined what he described as a “new concept of national security, capable of embracing and responding to the more complex and interconnected operating environment that we … face.” This approach means that “national security” now encompasses a broad range of principles – which include economic stability and a peaceful international environment, as well as Australia’s ability to remain free from attack or the threat of attack.
What does this mean for the AFP – and for the contribution law enforcement agencies make to Australia’s national security?
It remains our priority to stop those who wish us harm, particularly those who seek to commit acts of terror on Australian soil.
In this we have already experienced some success. Last month seven men charged with a variety of terrorism offences were sentenced by the Victorian Supreme Court to a total of more than 47 years in jail.
During this investigation, police tapped 174 phones and analysed more than 16-thousand hours of conversation. Officers also carried out nearly three thousand hours of surveillance and intercepted 26 gigabytes of internet traffic. This should give you some idea of the complex and difficult nature of terrorism cases, and the enormous workload police are expected to take on.
Adding another dimension to these matters is the fact that much of the legislation governing police action in relation to counter-terrorism is new, and it is not until investigations are carried out that inadequacies are exposed.
In addition to legislative reform, frameworks are now in place to ensure better inter-agency cooperation during large and complex terrorism investigations, and new multi-jurisdictional protocols have also been established. We are beginning to see the benefits that such changes bring to the way in which the AFP and its national security partner agencies are able to work together.
Some commentators observe that as the economic crisis bites it may have the potential to increase feelings of marginalisation and dislocation. In Iceland, the crisis has already led to social upheaval and the collapse of government, and security experts are warning of renewed instability in other areas of the world.
Law enforcement agencies have a role to play in helping to prevent such scenarios from developing in Australia, but this cannot be done in isolation – we also need the community’s ongoing support and trust. How does this happen?
We are here to help.
For example, recently about 100 AFP members travelled to areas of Victoria devastated by bushfire. They worked alongside the Country Fire Authority, Victorian Police, other State police and residents, to provide assistance with victim identification, general policing duties and chaplaincy services.
We call on the public for help.
Services such as the government’s National Security Hotline give the community an opportunity to provide information which may help prevent a terrorist attack. Last financial year 21 thousand calls were made to the service and more than eight thousand of those calls provided information to the AFP and its partner agencies.
This high call volume can be seen as a measure of the community’s willingness to cooperate with government efforts to protect national security. Community confidence is vitally important to effective policing. People who are wary of the police or who misunderstand our efforts in preventing crime need to be reassured.
So as with any police organisation, we work with the community to help bring down barriers.
The AFP has established Community Liaison Teams in Sydney and Melbourne. Several academic studies show the importance of community engagement in countering terrorist activities, and our teams are building relationships which help the community to understand what we are trying to achieve. Of course, AFP members also benefit from being exposed to, and developing an understanding of, different cultures.
Earlier this month we staged a Harmony Day Festival with the AFL and Department of Immigration at Belmore Oval and we have been asked to co-host the Haldon Street Festival in Lakemba later this year. This event regularly attracts more than 10 thousand people.
In Melbourne and Sydney we host an annual Iftar Dinner which brings together more than 300 leading members of the Muslim community, and last year more than three thousand people attended a Unity Cup Family Day the AFP hosted with the Essendon Football Club.
As well as major events such as these, the Community Liaison Teams regularly visit government and Islamic schools, host tours of AFP sites, and meet organisations including the Lebanese Muslim Association, Federation of Australian Muslim Students and Youth, and migrant resource centres.
The relationships formed as a result of these activities are helping to build bridges into communities where – because of our links to national security - the role of the AFP is not always understood, and many people feel ostracised. While it is not an ‘instant fix,’ it is a localised approach to a global problem, and builds upon our years of experience working with other countries to create strong relationships where trust has not always been in abundance.
This is perhaps a unique situation. The AFP is helping to protect national interests from outside as well as within, through its close working relationships with Australia’s near neighbours and close allies.
Over many years we have built up joint operations with other countries to investigate issues such as drug smuggling and people trafficking, and this foundation has enabled us to make positive inroads towards combating transnational crimes and reducing the threat of terrorism.
One way in which we do this is through training and development programs with partner countries, and in particular through the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation, or JCLEC. In the past year, more than one thousand members of police forces from countries as diverse as Pakistan, Cambodia and Indonesia attended courses at the centre.
The training programs are equally diverse. In addition to workshops on post-blast forensic analysis, the centre hosted a symposium on prison radicalisation and courses on airport security, financial investigations and organised crime.
The Centre is internationally recognised, attracting donations from the European Union and the Netherlands.
Through centres such as JCLEC, the AFP is helping to build stronger and more skilled law enforcement agencies in countries where the rule of law has not always held the same sway that it does here. We firmly believe that helping other countries to establish and entrench just law enforcement practices will help to bring their citizens a greater sense of stability and safety – which in turn will create a safer region, and a more secure Australia.
That is why we currently have our members working in Afghanistan on counter-narcotics and police capacity development with additional staff to be deployed in the near future.
It is why nearly 250 Iraqi police officers will come to Australia this year for training in areas as diverse as advance crime scene investigation, police leadership, forensic biology and bomb data awareness.
It is why we have members seconded to United Nations missions in countries like the Sudan.
The AFP’s decades of experience, strong international networks and programs such as the JCLEC mean it is also perfectly positioned to adapt to a world in which the list of non-traditional threats and new security challenges – such as money laundering, tax fraud, identification theft and cybercrime – is growing. We have already had numerous successes in prosecuting these crime types through our High Tech Crime Operations and Economic Operations portfolios.
There is no doubt that the past decade has wrought major changes on Australia’s security environment, and the next decade will be equally challenging, if perhaps for different reasons. It is difficult to predict the effects ongoing economic instability will have on Australia’s national security.
In his recent address to the Lowy Institute, Sir Lawrence Freedman said that globally, the economic crisis is likely to lead to demonstrations, strikes and riots, and some countries may experience insurrection, coups and violent struggles for power. He also indicated that some states are likely to maintain the status quo by cracking down on dissent, while others may break apart under the pressure.
He went on to say: “Such crises aggravate and accelerate existing fractures and tendencies at all levels, from the parochial to the global. They stress societies and test their coherence and self-confidence…”
All of these factors will have an impact on Australian interests. Law enforcement agencies such as the AFP can contribute to national security by continuing to build strong partnerships with the community, working closely with our domestic and international partners, and prosecuting criminals who seek to undermine our economic stability.