‘The sight of body bags is far worse’: Jewish leader backs new armed police patrols in Sydney after Bondi massacre

NSW Police have deployed a new specialist armed unit across Sydney in a bid to get ahead of the growing threat of terrorism, with officers now patrolling crowded public spaces carrying high-powered rifles.

The Armed Response Command (ARC) officially began operations on Sunday, with 100 officers completing six months of intensive specialist training to respond to serious threats, including active armed offender incidents.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: NSW launches Armed Response Command across Sydney

Established in the wake of the December 2025 Bondi terror attack, the command is Australia’s first permanent dedicated rapid armed response police capability.

Officers will conduct highly visible patrols at priority locations, major events, sporting matches, places of worship and other crowded public spaces.

Speaking to Sunrise on Monday, ARC Commander Detective Superintendent Andrew Evans said the unit had already hit the ground running.

“In the first 24 hours of operations, we’ve undertaken over 70 tasks and been on those sites for over 60 hours,” he said.

Deterring potential terror attacks

Evans said the command was designed to put officers in the right place at the right time, using a 24-hour operations centre to deploy resources based on real-time intelligence.

“It’s based on those priority site fundamentals, and it’s really about deterrence,” he said.

He said the highly visible policing strategy was designed to discourage potential attackers.

“That highly visible policing strategy and tactic is renowned around the world to deter would-be terrorists from attacking citizens,” he said.

Evans said the national security environment had changed significantly, with Australia’s terrorism threat level currently sitting at probable.

“In New South Wales, we’ve got ahead of that, and we’ve created the Armed Response Command,” he said.

Reassuring the public

The sight of heavily armed officers patrolling public spaces may be confronting for some members of the community, but Evans said police had worked to explain the new approach to the community.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said the increased police capability was a necessary response to the Bondi terror attack.

“Terrorism changes the way we live, and the massacre at Bondi, which saw long arms deployed against defenceless Australians, was always going to result in an increased police capability to deal with such horrors,” he said.

“On December 14 our police were clearly not given the means to promptly stop the attack and 2 officers were among the seriously injured as a result.

“No Australian wants to see officers with military weapons on our streets but the sight of body bags is far worse.”

He said intelligence assessments showed the threat of mass violence remained.

“We know from ASIO and AFP assessments that the threat of mass violence has not diminished and we should be grateful to the police and state government for increasing their preparedness, which will hopefully deter terrorists or end attacks quickly.”

Evans said multicultural liaison officers will be embedded in the command’s operations centre to monitor community sentiment.

“I would encourage members of the community, as they did yesterday, and prior to that, when we were out doing scenarios in the public, to approach our police and have a conversation with them,” Evans said.

“The support from Sydney’s side has been overwhelming, and I do very much thank them for that.”

International policing model influence

The officers were selected through an expression of interest process before undergoing rigorous vetting and specialist training, which they were required to pass to join the command.

NSW Police also looked overseas when developing the new unit, with a delegation travelling to Belgium and London to examine existing models.

Evans said police had also drawn on advice from colleagues at the New York Police Department.

“We took the best bits of each of those models, and we’ve now made the Armed Response Command here in New South Wales,” he said.