Auckland Council has already scrapped 58 planned Anzac Day events at the urgings of police. Photo / Nick Reed
Auckland Council has already scrapped 58 planned Anzac Day events at the urgings of police. Photo / Nick Reed
New Zealand's soldiers are not on standby for crowd control, says a security analyst, after suggestions the Defence Force should be used to beef up the police presence at Anzac Day events around the country.
Auckland Council has already scrapped 58 planned Anzac Day events at the urgings of police.
It means just 26 official Anzac commemoration events will be held in Auckland this year.
The cancellations came after police said it wanted to maintain a visible presence following last month's Christchurch mosque shootings which killed 50 people.
Despite the cancellations, police said in a statement it "has the necessary resourcing to support a large number of Anzac Day events," throughout the country.
"We support the official RSA and community leaders' decision in regard the consolidation of some Anzac Day services this year," a spokesperson said.
"Police will not hesitate from taking the steps we need – including the advice we have provided regarding Anzac Day services – to keep our communities safe.
"While we understand the advice to consolidate Anzac Day events is disappointing for some people, our priority is public safety."
Some have questioned if the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) could provide additional security for Anzac Day services rather than cancel them.
However, security analyst Paul Buchanan from 36th Parallel Assessments said it was more than likely the NZDF would reject any request to use its soldiers for crowd control.
"They are trained to kill their enemy, not carry out barrier control or that sort of thing," he said.
Thousands of people attend the Anzac Day services every year, such as this 2017 dawn service in Whangarei. Photo / Tania Whyte
Buchanan added it was interesting to observe that the terror risk had dropped from high to medium five weeks after the attacks, but it seemingly did not correspond to additional police resources for Anzac Day services.
The country's terror alert level was downgraded to medium by the Government last week after it was maintained as high for about a month after the attacks.
It was the first time the terror alert level had ever been raised above low.
"Following the attacks there were officers 24/7 outside mosques and community centres. They have been stretched very thin. So for Anzac Day it seems they simply did not have the resources," Buchanan said.
But after the threat risk was dropped, and seeing as police have said there is no active threat, Buchanan said more resources should have become available.
Buchanan also queried why if police lacked the resources they had not approached private security firms.
"If it is not an issue of money, but about bodies, there are plenty of private security providers, some of those who have worked hot zones around the world and would have the skills required for crowd control. It might be expensive but it would remove the need to cancel so many services."
The NZDF said in an earlier statement that it will be participating in the services and commemorations as normal but security is a matter for the police.
Police meanwhile have asked anyone attending Anzac services to remain vigilant.
"If you see anything suspicious then call police on 111."
