Rush gives us a close look at a recent phenomenon in modern policing: the development of the highly trained elite police units with the capacity to respond to a crisis imaginatively and almost immediately.
Enter the Tactical Response team.
Tactical Response (TR) is a bunch of exhaustively-trained young cops, on 24-hour mobile duty, who can respond immediately to a crisis, bringing negotiating skills, lateral thinking, less lethal weaponry and a fresh attitude to both crime and civil disorder. Their brief is to strive for a fast and specifically non-lethal resolution to an incident. They get to the scene first and hopefully they resolve problems without shooting people.
And they're fast…
They are always on the road, patrolling, keeping in contact, always ready to respond to the whiff of a crisis. A bank robbery, a hostage situation, a sniper, a desperate escapee on the loose, a threatened suicide, a missing person, a bomb threat, a visiting overseas dignitary under threat – these situations need more sophistication and intelligence, backed up by a 'war room' at the cutting edge of technology. The type of critical incident that is faced by TR needs lateral thinking – a creative approach by hi-tech people with the capacity to see beyond the immediate situation.
A close-knit band of cops who are young enough and wild enough to take the necessary risks, these chosen few are also old enough to recognize when a critical situation needs a calm head, strategy and an understanding of people. The team works as a single unit with a mixture of skills, experience and age – supporting each other's strengths and knowing each other's weaknesses in order to maximize the impact of the group. Being a new fresh organisation they're still on probation to a certain extent. The hierarchy is still keeping a close eye on this experiment in modern policing. They know they're under the microscope and any major slip up could jeopardize their whole existence.
But the team has been well chosen. At moments of supreme pressure this little team think each other's thoughts, anticipate each other's moves and work in formidable harmony. They know they are operating at the cutting edge of police work, and they know that's the place they most like to be.
Rush is a Southern Star John Edwards production for Network Ten with the assistance of Film Victoria.
CAST LIST:
Rodger Corser plays Lawson Blake
Callan Mulvey plays Brendan "Josh" Joshua
Jolene Anderson plays Shannon Henry
Nicole da Silva plays Stella Dagostino
Ashley Zukerman plays Michael Sandrelli
Josef Ber plays Dominic Wales
Samuel Johnson plays Leon Broznic
Catherine McClements plays Kerry Vincent