Questions over Martin Place siege command as joint investigation nears completion

The NSW Police Force has defended the chain of command put in place during the Martin Place siege amid questions over whether state protocols for terror incidents were fully enacted on the day.

Fairfax Media has learnt some police have questioned why the head of field operations, Acting Deputy Commissioner Jeff Loy, was not given a greater role alongside Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn who ran the counter-terrorism operation to detain gunman Man Haron Monis.

When an incident is declared a terror attack, as was the case soon after Monis put hostages against the window of the Lindt Cafe and the Opera House was evacuated amid fears of bombs in the city, a terror protocol came into effect.

The protocol, contained on the joint NSW government – police website Secure NSW, states: "In the event of a terrorist attack that requires the involvement of several government agencies, the State Emergency Operations Controller (SEOCON) will take control and coordinate the deployment of resources.

"The SEOCON role is held by the Deputy Commissioner, Field Operations, NSW Police Force."

The head of field operations would normally be Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas but Assistant Commissioner Loy was acting in his role on the day due to illness.

A statement by police said Commissioner Andrew Scipione had deployed the counter-terrorism unit under the banner of Task Force Pioneer, led by Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch who reports to Ms Burn.

According to the police statement, Assistant Commissioner Loy was not in the senior coordinating role during most of the siege.

"Jeff Loy was the senior officer at the State Crisis Centre late on the evening of the siege as part of the relief arrangements," police said.

Police provided a list of SEOCON's responsibilities under "emergency" conditions without directly answering questions about the terror protocols.

Fairfax has learnt that Assistant Commissioner Loy was stood down from the role of Acting Deputy by Ms Burn last week.

"NSW Police routinely rotate Assistant Commissioners into Acting Deputy Commissioner roles during absences of Deputy Commissioners.

"In line with best practice equity guidelines for absences beyond three months, an expression of interest (EOI) process began in November last year. A panel selected Assistant Commissioner Frank Mennilli to act as Deputy Commissioner Field Operations, taking over from Assistant Commissioner Jeff Loy."

While some police have put the decision to grant Ms Burn full control down to existing tensions at the top of the force, a former senior policeman said it was understandable that assistant commissioner Loy did not have a greater role because the incident was "relatively contained" compared to a large scale attack like a bombing when more emergency agencies are required.

The chain of command and communications between agencies, including federal and state police, is being scrutinised by the joint review announced by Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Premier Mike Baird. It is due to be presented to cabinets at both levels of government by the end of January.

National security sources have told Fairfax Media that the inquiry may recommend the need for better coordination between state and federal authorities.

Monis had expressed Islamic extremist views and also was convicted or charged with several serious criminal offences. The former is largely dealt with by federal authorities and the latter by the states, but they appear not to have taken full account of one another, sources said.

But they added that with limited resources and remaining mindful of Australians' freedoms, authorities cannot watch everyone they are concerned about but rather must prioritise.

One federal source said ASIO would need to be "about five times the size it is now" to closely monitor every person of concern.

Another pointed out that the period around which Prime Minister Tony Abbott has indicated ASIO tapered off its monitoring of Monis in 2009 may well have coincided with the man-power intensive efforts of agencies to bust open the plot to attack Holsworthy Barracks in southwest Sydney.

The high-powered inquiry is considering whether "control orders" and similar counter-terrorism powers could have been used against Monis. However control orders – which allow police to put bail-like conditions on a person they suspect of posing a terrorism risk including forcing them to wear a tracking device – have been used only a handful of times in the past.

Monis was very unlikely to have met the threshold, which requires police to convince a court the person poses a significant terrorism risk, sources have said, because his non-terrorism crimes and charges would not count towards the control order case.

On the question of how Monis came to be granted asylum in Australia from his native Iran, then immigration minister Philip Ruddock has told Fairfax Media he has "no recollection" of the case. While the immigration minister does sign off personally of many asylum cases, it has been reported that Monis' case was dealt with by the department, not by the minister himself.