University of Otago associate professor Stephen Young is with us to discuss these fringe groups, and how we might deal with them in future.
Eleven New Zealand police staff have been deployed to Victoria to help their Australian counterparts track down an alleged “cop killer”.
Desmond Freeman is accused of shooting and killing Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart on August 26 on a property outside the smallVictorian town of Porepunkah in the state’s northeast.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Penelope Gifford today confirmed that the New Zealand Police received a request for assistance from their “transtasman colleagues”.
“Eleven1 police staff from a specialist workgroup have been deployed to Victoria since Friday. It is not unusual for us to support our Australian counterparts on occasion, where required,” Gifford said.
Freeman, also known as Desmond Filby, fled into bushland on foot after the shooting.
Hundreds of specialist police have fanned out across the dense terrain since the shooting to try to capture Freeman.
Victoria Deputy Commissioner Russell Barrett said the search was the largest tactical policing operation in Australia’s history. As well as New Zealand, the manhunt has involved officers from every Australian state.
Specialist officers have entered caves in the hunt for Freeman. Photo / Victoria Police
“Over 125 specialist detectives scoured and searched an area in the immediate vicinity of Freeman’s location.
