Australian police being trained to shoot terrorists on sight

NSW Police chief says new approach needed in current terrorist environment, but in other cases involving armed offenders, "contain and negotiate" approach will continue

Police from Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state are being trained to shoot terrorists on sight rather than try to contain them and negotiate, a media report said on Tuesday.

Acting Police Commissioner Nick Kaldas said the new approach was needed in the terrorist environment where "you're dealing with someone who is there with a preconceived aim of dying and who wants to kill as many people as they possibly can," ABC reported.

He said in that scenario, it was "far more urgent for police to intervene".

However, Kaldas said, in most other cases where police deal with armed offenders, officers will still try to use the "contain and negotiate" approach that has been in place for two decades.

"For example, if someone is in a domestic violence situation or if someone has been cornered doing an armed robbery, they're not there to die, they don't wish to die, that's not their ultimate aim, that's not their objective," he said.

NSW Police are also looking at increasing the weaponry available to officers to deal with the threat of terrorism in Australia.

However, NSW counter-terrorism Commander Mark Murdoch said there had been no specific terrorism threat made against Australia in the wake of the Paris attack on November 13 that killed 129 people and injured 350 others.