Flak jackets - stun grenades - assault rifles - two " BearCat " armoured vehicles which some describe as " light tanks ". That was the scene on the streets of western Sydney this week when police raided a criminal gang that was involved in the drug trade and a wide range of criminal activity that included " extortion ".
We have come a long way from the days when uniformed police with a hand gun for protection knocked on suspect's doors and took them into custody. There is little difference between the specially trained police assault teams and the army special forces troops that we deploy overseas in battle zones. The expectation of armed resistance with heavy weapons is now a fact of life since organised crime invaded our cities.
The criminal fraternity has no fear of using weapons to exert it's control. Rival gangs shoot it out on our streets and the practice of delivering a warning by spraying a rival's house with bullets is a favourite tactic. Taking the fight to these sorts of people involves the dangers of a real battlefield - and special police squads are trained accordingly.
This week the western world got a warning of what the future might hold when an al Shabab terrorist group stormed a shopping centre in Nairobi, Kenya and began executing non-Muslim shoppers. These jihadists are on a suicide mission and have no intention of surrendering. It is likely that the final death toll will exceed a hundred.
It is quite possible that such a scenario may engulf an Australian city if the terrorists turn their thoughts in our direction. It is impossible to fully guard against such an attack becomes it involves the element of surprise. We can only hope that we have the trained crews to quickly bring it to an end with the minimum of casualties.
Local and world events underscore the reality that we now live in a dangerous world. Once Australia seemed safely remote from the worlds " hot spots " - but the tyrrany of distance today provides no insulation from becoming a world headline.
We will always have to contend with local organized crime. Whether the terrorist threat becomes a reality here by way of a major event depends on what evil minds conjour up in response to situations which probably have no relativity to this country.
Such relativity is usually lacking from the jihadist thought process.
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