Tasmania Police’s counter-terrorism unit has doubled in size and become full-time operational thanks to an $8.9 million upgrade

Tasmania Police’s Special Operations Group has doubled in size and become a full-time mission as part of efforts to better protect the state.

An $8.9 million investment from the State Government has enabled the establishment of a full-time SOG, strengthening Tasmania’s capacity to respond to high-risk situations involving organised crime, hardened criminals and threats to the State’s way of life.

The recruitment of 10 new full-time members has increased the capacity of the State SOG to 20 people.

Police Minister Felix Ellis has called the SOG “a crook’s worst nightmare”, saying the newly strengthened force will ensure police have the capacity to respond to high-risk situations.

“Whether it’s organised crime, hardened criminals or threats to the Tasmanian way of life, SOG Tasmania will be there to protect our state,” Ellis said.

“The creation of this group sends a strong message that crime will not be tolerated in Tasmania.”

The highly trained officers will be equipped to handle a range of security challenges, ensuring the safety and protection of Tasmanians.

Ellis says the SOG also provides “major support” to Tasmania Police officers on general duties and a range of different jobs.

“Because we now have this full-time capability, ready to deploy, they provide even more support to our frontline Tasmanian Police officers across the state.

The special operations group uses a rarely seen $400,000 armored rescue vehicle called a BearCat, which was spotted on state roads earlier this year while responding to an isolated incident.

Tasmania Police Assistant Commissioner Adrian Bodnar said the upgrade was a significant step forward for the force.

“The benefit of having a full-time SOG allows us to deploy to serious incidents in the community in a more timely and rapid manner,” he said.

“They are also available to assist our investigators in high-risk searches where specialist skills are required and they are also available for siege-type situations… as well.”

The news comes today as Australia’s national terrorism threat level has been raised to ‘probable’.

Australia’s Department of Home Affairs says more Australians are “becoming radicalised, and radicalising fast”.

“They are adopting a more diverse range of extreme ideologies. Anti-authority beliefs are growing, trust in institutions is eroding, and provocative and defiant behavior is becoming normalized,” they said in a statement.

“While you need to be more vigilant, you should also have the confidence to continue with your lives. For most of us, the change in threat level will have no practical impact.”