History
The SOG commenced in the late 1970s, with changes to the unit taking place in 1978 in response to the Sydney Hilton Bombing. This incident saw the formation of SACPAV (Standing Advisory Committee on Commonwealth/State Co-operation for Protection AgainstViolence) which provided national consistency across all jurisdictions for Police Tactical Groups in respect to training, equipment and the desired level of response.
Since that time the Group has gone through a number of significant changes, primarily brought about by national trends that saw extreme violence and related threats used and/or targeted against members of Australian communities. Since 1978, the Group has experienced several changes in name and training philosophies – from the Armed Offenders Squad to Special Weapons Squad and now Special Operations Group, a name which more accurately reflects the true nature of the Group's duties.
The Tasmanian Police SOG was involved in the infamous 1996 Port Arthur massacre helping to bring the event to conclusion by arresting the heavily armed gunman Martin Bryant.
In recent times the SOG have sent several officers to assist other juridictions, most notably to New South Wales to assist during the 2007 APEC summit in Sydney and also to Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2011.
In June 2012 the SOG took delivery of a Lenco BearCat which will either replace or supplement their 2007 purchased Mercedes-Benz 'Sprinter' based armoured tactical vehicle.
Read more about this topic: Special Operations Group Of The Tasmania Police
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