More than 60 general duties and specialist officers, including several from the Illawarra’s State Protection Support Group, took part in the training exercise, which involved two ‘‘intruders’’ who had taken a hostage inside the shopping centre.

A police canine unit and hostage negotiation unit from Sydney were also on hand as police worked their way through the scenario, eventually ‘‘arresting’’ two men and freeing their ‘‘hostage’’.

Lake Illawarra Police Superintendent Wayne Starling said large-scale, real-life scenarios like the one that played out on Tuesday were crucial to keeping police at their best.

‘‘If police don’t get it right out in the street, people will die, if they don’t die they could be seriously injured,’’ he said.

He said it was one of the largest exercises ever held in the Illawarra.

Future exercises will focus on disaster response procedures and interactions between police and other agencies such as the Rural Fire Service and State Emergency Service.