public order and riot squad (NSW)

Article

22 Feb

The Public Order and Riot Squad (PORS) is a full-time riot squad of the NSW police. Their primary role is to control demonstrations.

organisation

The NSW Police Force website states that PORS deals with:

riots and protests
demonstrations and events with large crowds
high Visibility Policing (HVP) and large operations
searches for persons, property, cannabis plantations and around internationally protected persons.
canvassing of crime scenes
staffing of correctional institutions during industrial disputes
disaster Victim Identification (DVI)
first response to Chemical, Biological or Radiological (CBR) incidents (1).

As of 2024, the squad is made up of 91 officers (2). PORS can be identified by their black vehicles, navy blue uniforms and special equipment, often wearing patches saying “riot squad” on the front and back of their torso.

Although PORS is a relatively small unit, they form the core of the police response at many demonstrations, creating snatch squads and kettling protestors.

At demonstrations, PORS works with other police including the Mounted Unit, Dog Unit, Aviation Command (PolAir), Rescue and Bomb Disposal Unit, general duties police and the Operations Support Group (OSG).

operations support group

The Operations Support Group (sometimes called Operational Support Group) is made up of 102 officers and serves as an auxiliary riot squad (3). They are trained by PORS and can be identified by patches specific for their region, ie “Odin” for the Central Metropolitan Region.

Their duties include:

assisting with protests, parades, demonstrations and large crowd events
support of Local, Region and Specialist Command operations
specialist search operations
execution of search warrants
first responders for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents
high visibility policing
non-compliant prisoner facilitation (4).

history

In 1991 the Tactical Response Group was dissolved, leaving NSW without a full-time riot squad. The Operational Support Group partially fulfilled the role but it consisted of general duties officers “on call” to fulfill the OSG role.

Two uprisings against police violence spurred the creation of the Public Order and Riot Squad.

On 14 February 2004 a 17 year old Aboriginal boy named Thomas “TJ” Hickey was killed when he was impaled on a fence as he was pursued by police (5). Later two Aboriginal Liaison Officers testified in NSW Parliament that a police vehicle had rammed TJ Hickey. Senior Constable Michael Hollingsworth, who was driving the vehicle, refused to give evidence (6).

On 15 February 2004 a crowd of mostly Indigenous young people gathered near Redfern police Station to protest Hickey’s death. Members of the crowd threw bricks, molotov cocktails, bottles and fireworks at police and Redfern Train Station. Police had difficulty controlling the crowd as they lacked specialist equipment eg. gas masks to allow the use of tear gas or OC spray (7). Police used a fire brigade hose to disperse the crowd and several officers were injured.

On 25 February 2005 in Macquarie Fields 20-year old Jesse Kelly and two teenage friends stole a car and police began a high-speed pursuit. Kelly crashed into a tree, killing his two passengers before escaping on foot.

Macquarie Fields was an area with high unemployment, public housing and a history of tension with police. Members of the community blamed the police for the deaths and began protesting. The government sent hundreds of police officers to Macquarie Fields where they clashed with residents who threw bottles, bricks and rocks. Protests continued for four nights.

The state opposition and conservative media outlets criticised the police response to the Redfern and Macquarie Fields incidents as too weak. Parliamentary inquiries were held into the incidents (8) and the NSW Police Force advocated for more equipment and the reorganisation of the Operations Support Group (9).

The Public Order and Riot Squad began operations in February 2006.

PORS worked with sympathetic media 60 Minutes on a 2009 program to create a different narrative of their founding. 60 Minutes portrayed PORS as a response to the Cronulla race riots, instead of uprisings against police violence. The program stated “But dealing with weekend drunks and thugs was not the reason the Public Order and Riot Squad was formed. It was borne out of the anarchy of the 2006 Cronulla race riots in Sydney.” (10)

Aside from incorrectly stating the year of the Cronulla riots, the riots occurred on 11-12 December 2005, after the creation of PORS as stated in the NSW Police Force review of the riots:

“... at the time of the riots the NSW Police 'Incident Command and Control System' which had previously been approved by the Commissioner ' of Police was in the process of being implemented. As well, the Public Order and Riot Squad which had been approved, did not commence operations until the 12th February, 2006.” (11)

In September 2007 Sydney hosted APEC Leaders’ Week. APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) consists of 21 member countries who work together to form free trade agreements which empower corporations and diminish workplace and environmental protections.

In the lead up to the conference, the NSW government passed the APEC Meeting (Police Powers) Act 2007 which gave the police additional stop and search powers, the ability to declare arbitrary restricted areas, enter premises and create a list of “excluded persons”. (12)
PORS formed the core of the APEC security force along with the Operations Support Group, Australian Defence Force black hawk helicopters and US Secret Service Agents (13). At protests organised by the Stop Bush Coalition, police officers removed their ID badges (14) and engaged in numerous acts of police brutality including attacks on journalists (15), use of OC spray and arbitrary arrests.

Since then in addition to controlling demonstrations PORS has been deployed for sporting events, patrolling nightlife hotspots (16) and courtrooms (17), shutting down rave/warehouse parties (18), prisoner transfer (19) and executing search warrants (20).
PORS was accused of conducting illegal firearms training near Goulburn in 2017, drawing complaints from neighbours (21).

During the catastrophic November 2019 bushfires PORS was deployed to affected areas to patrol for looters, despite police receiving no reports of looting at the time (22).

equipment

Officers are equipped with fixed and extendable batons, tasers, OC spray, metal and plastic handcuffs, one and two handed shields, flame retardant overalls, balaclavas, helmets, ballistic vests, arm and leg armour. As of 2017 the Public Order and Riot Squad officers are equipped with semi-automatic M4 Carbine rifles.

PORS has access to black vans and four wheel drives with running boards to quickly deploy officers. In the leadup to APEC in 2007 they purchased a $700,000 water cannon truck that was never used before being given to the fire brigade in 2019.

They have access to specialised crowd control weapons including tear gas, batton rounds, and Long Range Acoustic Devices.