A man is assisting police with enquiries after the discovery of a suspicious backpack at the City Police Station forced the evacuation of the station.
ACT Policing said the backpack was found to be no threat to public safety, despite also forcing the neighbouring courts into lockdown for more than two hours.
![Police officers deliver equipment to the City Police Station.](/web/20161030110834im_/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/c/q/3/f/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gscnp0.png/1477617716508.jpg)
The package, believed to be a bag at the police station, caused the evacuation shortly after 9am, but was "rendered safe" by 11.30am, according to police.
The station was evacuated as a "precaution", an ACT Policing spokesman said, and London Circuit was closed in both directions between Farrell Place and Hobart Place. Knowles Place was also closed.
At about 9.30am, officers brought a bomb disposal robot onto the upper outside edge of the police station on London Circuit.
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20161030110834im_/http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/staticmap?center=-35.28039,149.12606&zoom=16&size=500x370&maptype=roadmap&markers=icon:http://maps.gstatic.com/mapfiles/ms2/micons/caution.png|-35.28051,149.12630&sensor=false)
At 10am, an announcement over the neighbouring Magistrates Court's loudspeaker asked people to move away from the glass doors at the front of the building after police found a suspicious package.
![London Circuit was blocked off in both directions due to the police operation.](/web/20161030110834im_/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/c/n/n/w/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gscnp0.png/1477617716508.jpg)
The court was closed to entry, and people already inside not permitted to leave, although it was opened once to allow people out.
A police spokeswoman confirmed it was the same suspicious package which closed the police station, and that neighbouring buildings had also been evacuated.
![City Police Station was evacuated on Friday morning.](/web/20161030110834im_/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/c/o/s/p/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gscnp0.png/1477617716508.jpg)
Court sittings due to start at 10am were delayed, and the Supreme Court also went into lockdown.
Construction of the new court facilities had earlier continued and workers on the site operating machinery throughout the morning, but by about 11am, the site was cleared of people.
At 11.20am, a message from the Chief Warden said the cordon had been lifted and people were allowed to enter and leave both the Magistrates Court and Supreme Court.
ACT Policing thanked the community for their patience on Friday morning.