The New South Wales police force has formed a new unit aimed at countering lone wolf attacks from “fixated” people who may be vulnerable to extremist groups.
On Wednesday the commissioner, Mick Fuller, announced the Fixated Persons Investigations Unit would be comprised of police officers and mental health specialists to identify potentially vulnerable people who may be at risk of exposure to extremist material.
The newly formed unit will be separate from the NSW joint counter-terrorism team, and will have a particular focus on marginalised individuals in the community.
Fuller said there was a “new phenomenon” of people who may be at risk of committing violent acts that did not fit into the traditional profile police had established of potential terrorism suspects.
“This unit will complement potential targets that will never be seen as an active counter-terrorism target,” Fuller said. “We need to create a new pathway for people to feel confident they can reach out to police.”
He said that the unit would undertake risk assessments into potential suspects to determine whether a police-driven response or a health-driven response was more appropriate.
Fuller drew a strong link between potentially extremist activities and mental health issues, but said the creation of the unit would not stigmatise mental health.
A potentially controversial element of the team will be that it will be able to gain access to a suspect’s medical records from the NSW Department of Health. Fuller said this kind of information sharing arrangement had been in place for some time.
“We can’t just ring up and ask for information about an individual, unless it has reached a threshold for community concern,” he said.
There will be 17 detectives tasked to the unit. Fuller said that NSW Health would also make experts available to provide assistance.
Fuller said he met with the director of health two weeks ago and to discuss the program in detail, and said they shared similar concerns.
