Airport employees and airline passengers are being encouraged to report suspicious behaviour as part of a new Australian Federal Police program.
The Airport Watch program, which the AFP likens to a neighbourhood watch, was due to be officially launched at Sydney Airport today and will be rolled out across the country during the next five weeks.
Carrying the motto “See it, Hear it, Report it,” the program encourages people to call 131 AFP if they “see something unusual or notice any suspicious behaviour or hear a threatening or unusual conversation.”
The AFP says the program will complement its existing capabilities, which include community policing and counter-terrorist first response capability, air security officers, joint intelligence teams and joint investigation teams, bomb appraisal officers and firearms and explosive detection canines.
AFP Acting Commissioner Peter Drennan said the program would “reduce the likelihood of serious crimes happening in our airports – and in the event an incident does occur, it will enhance AFP’s ability to quickly assess, respond to and resolve it.”
