Riding with NSW Police Force’s Operation Shelter

My tour begins at Sydney Police Centre in Surry Hills. I’m escorted inside, past the security gates to the Police Operations Centre (POC), where Acting Assistant Commissioner Andrew Garner is waiting to meet me.

Garner is the current head of Operation Shelter, which was established by NSW Police shortly after October 7, 2023, and again ramped up following the Bondi terror attack.

“All major events are run out of this facility,” he explains. “This will come alive about 3 o’clock this afternoon with the team that are running Vivid.

“It’s got a bunch of different breakout rooms, a large briefing room, CCTV from all different sources for situational awareness, to inform decision making, coordination, and management of major events throughout the year.”

Importantly, he adds, “It can be stood up at very short timeframes for unplanned situations, like Bondi for instance – within a very short space time, this was stood up and fully operating to manage the response.”

Radio operators can also be embedded in the space, he says, “So really bringing in all those key roles in, to be co-located for the effective management of those large scale-operations.”

After a tour of some of the breakout rooms and a delicious slice of a home-baked chocolate pastry, we’re in the police car heading to our first location.

“Operation Shelter now is focused on the recovery of Bondi and the Jewish community post the attack in December 2025. And the way it’s achieving that is through keeping people safe, making them feel safe, providing reassurance, and helping the community lead a more normal life,” Garner says as we drive into the CBD.

“It’s delivered through high visibility policing across our operational footprint, and we’re going to take you now to some of those locations.

“Shelter relies on the high visibility aspect, it’s predicated on that, and that’s what you’ll see as we go around these areas today. And I think the feedback we are receiving from communities is that it is being noticed.”

Soon, we pull up outside the building that is housing the hearings for the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. A number of police officers stand guard at the entry.

“The first two and a half weeks of the commission were open public hearings … you had lots of members of the Jewish community coming to give evidence before the hearings.

“So what we wanted to do was provide a presence, so that they had that reassurance that it was safe to do so, that they felt safe coming here,” Garner tells me.

“And again, the feedback we were getting from the community was that this police presence out the front, in partnership with Australian Federal Police on the inside and on the hearing level, did give them that comfort that coming here was okay, it was safe, and they were able to speak and share their lived experience for the benefit of the Royal Commission.”

The Royal Commission is taking place behind closed doors on the afternoon we visit, but as Garner explains, “There are still people giving evidence … it’s important to still have that security overlay, so they feel comfortable coming, feel safe, and have that reassurance that it’s okay to come here and participate.”

Soon we’re back in the car and driving south-east towards Randwick. Garner points out a Highway Patrol car parked on Alison Road as we drive past. It too is part of Operation Shelter, he explains, its role being to check number plates and flag drivers who are known to police and may present a threat to the community, so that officers can respond.

We shortly arrive at Emanuel School where officers are already stationed for the end of the school day.

“As part of Operation Shelter and delivering reassurance and safety to the community, we have a presence in various locations around the operational footprint,” Garner says.

“At some of those places we are enhancing existing security, like education facilities and places of worship and others, in crowded places we have a presence as well.

“So we’re here supporting the community at the school. There’s a police presence as you can see during some key times of the day that supports the community and the other security that are here.”

That support is clearly appreciated; as we stand watching everyone leaving for the day, many of them – students, staff and parents alike – express their gratitude to the stationed officers.

Back in the car, I ask about the future evolution of Operation Shelter, with NSW Police busy setting up a new unit called the Armed Response Command (ARC), a 250-officer strong rapid response team bearing long arms.

“On the horizon for Shelter is to continue serving the community as we are now … to continue assisting that recovery and that return to more normal life,” Garner responds, as we drive past Moriah College, where two officers in hi-visibility vests guard an entry.

Next is my chance to see a Highway Patrol vehicle up close. We head over to Woollahra, where a car is stationed on Oxford Street, just outside the Chevra Kadisha.

I’m invited to sit in the passenger seat for an explanation of the technology and how it helps to identify people of concern on the roads. It is seriously impressive in its ability to easily read registrations as cars whiz by and accelerate towards Syd Einfeld Drive. I joke to the Highway Patrol officer that I’m definitely going to start driving much more carefully from now on!

Garner explains that Operation Shelter “leans heavily on prevention and early detection”.

“It’s intelligence driven, and one of the capabilities that underpin the operation is the full deployment of Highway Patrol vehicles at key locations,” he says.

“These vehicles are equipped with technology that reads number plates of vehicles and accesses intelligence holdings, and that helps shape our response throughout the day.

“In just under a month they’ve read over two million vehicle plates. So it’s a huge capability, very powerful, and assists us greatly in delivering that reassurance and that safety to the community.”

Back in our car then for a short drive to Central Synagogue. It is around two hours before the Friday night Shabbat service commences and officers are already stationed outside.

At places of worship, crowded places and other venues, Garner says, “You’re going to see police cars, you’re going to see police officers very prominently around those locations.

“You’ll feel safe coming in – you are safe – and that will be at a range of different locations as you go about your lives.”

Our final stop for the afternoon is Bondi Pavilion, where a Shabbat dinner co-hosted by Waverley Council and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies is set to take place. Riot Squad vehicles are prominently parked in front of and behind the pavilion; scores of officers mill about, and a sniffer dog has just finished sweeping the dinner location.

“What we’ve shown you this afternoon is that Shelter has been supporting the community through, let’s say, daily life. We’ve been to schools, we’ve been to synagogues, we’ve been out and about in the community,” Garner recaps.

“Part of Shelter’s function is also to support the community at other engagements like special events and functions. Tonight there’s an event on that we’re supporting, and as a part of that we’ve drawn on some specialist capability.

“We’ve seen long arm capability, we’ve seen detection dogs, public order police, and high visibility.”

The high visibility, he reinforces, is a recurring theme.

“Everywhere we’ve taken you, you’ve seen plenty of police,” he says.

“They’re very obvious, they stand out, they’re recognisable, and it’s providing that reassurance and that comfort to go about your lives, to come to events and move towards a more normal life, and feel supported and safe in the community.”

Bondi Pavilion is the perfect place to finish the ride-along, since as it happens, I am a guest at that evening’s dinner that the officers are busy securing.

And of course, I make sure to say “thank you” to the police at the end of the evening.