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Averie McMahon
               

                After, careful consideration I decided to interview a person with the background of security. A background of any law has always been an interest for me, so I decided to explore the topic a little more. In the future, I will be hoping to obtain a job in the Government primarily the Homeland Security Department so I thought this issue would suit me best.
On my first day in Cairns, I spotted two security guards at the Coles grocery store, located in the mall and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to get my interview. Also, it just so happened that one the ladies I interviewed was in charge of the police department of that mall. I first wanted to focus on the crime rates specifically in Cairns, so I asked what was the standard crime that is most likely to occur. The following response from both of the ladies was a lot of theft happens and a lot of intoxication that occurs on the beach side of the town. One of the ladies actually began to laugh afterwards and said basically “acting dumb or inappropriate in some ways.” I was really curious on they handle these type of situations and manage their relationship with the community. The lady in charge responded by explaining that the primary concern is to approach the suspect with caution with backup. Although they want to keep their officers safe, they still want to be able to maintain a strong relationship between the police and the Cairns community. They do this by having a good communication flow and having patrols roam the town to make sure the community is aware they are attending their needs. Cairns is a small town, and I was interested if the community ever had a problem with police brutality or feeling as they can’t trust the police. They proceeded to tell me that they have always had positive feedback from the community and they were excellent on staying on top of addressing any issues or concerns the community may have.
              After asking the fundamental questions I was curious as to how the crime scene is different here than in Sydney. They both laughed at this question and answered it with saying “Sydney is the worst!” One of them explained to me that Sydney is very multi-culture and have a higher diversity which puts them at a higher risk of terrorist threats. My first initial thought to this response was surprised because I never thought of Sydney to be at high risk for terrorism threats as supposed to America. So after my interview, I decided to look more into the terrorism that occurs in Sydney, Australia. According to the police, Australia would have experienced 15 terror attacks including public beheadings on home soil over the past three years. However, Australia is the 59th most impacted country by terrorism compared to other locations such as Iran, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, and Italy. Australia is very isolated from other countries that it works in Australia’s favor and makes it harder to attack. The ladies mentioned that the terrorist threats were very high for Sydney but explained that the likelihood of an individual being killed or injured from a terrorist attack in this country is extremely low. However, I wish I could say that American citizens do not fear as much. A study by the Cato Institute reported that 3024 Americans died between 1975 and 2015 die to terrorism from foreign countries. This research shows that an average of 74 Americans are being killed by terrorist attacks each year. Growing up and witnessing 9/11, The Boston Marathon, and The Sandy Hook terrorist attack made is harder for me to believe that Australian have little to fear from terrorism at home. The two ladies who I had interviewed seemed very confident that terrorist attacks are far from their minds, but the issue is still present.



                                                                    Work Cited:

“Australias light red shading on this map should give us pause for concern.” NewsComAu, 21 Nov.                      2016, www.news.com.au/national/global-terrorism-index-reveals-how-impactedaustralia-                    is-by-terrorist-atrocities/news-story/3a4a8fc53edc05dc069e5a15a2c2dafe.

Groome, Imogen. “How does the UK terror threat level compare to Europe and America?” Metro, 24                      May 2017, metro.co.uk/2017/05/24/how-does-the-uk-terror-threat-level-compare-to-                            europe-and-america-6660253/.

“Terror attack plots for Australia that were foiled moments before they were executed.”                                           NewsComAu, 30 July 2017, www.news.com.au/national/crime/the-11-imminent-terror-                       attacks-australia-narrowly-escaped/news-story/86fc734df0963e21fe038c0eecce7d80.


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