The Emergency Task Force (ETF) is the police tactical unit of the Toronto Police Service. Created in 1965, it is mandated to deal with high-risk situations like hostage-taking, emotionally disturbed persons, high-risk arrests, warrant service, protection details, and crowd control. The Emergency Task Force is also responsible for responding to any terrorist incidents that occur throughout the City of Toronto.
The ETF is under the command of the Specialized Operations Command under Public Safety Operations, Specialized Emergency Response.[1]
History
The Emergency Task Force was created in 1965 after being known as the Riot and Emergency Squad which dealt with riots and crowd control issues. Over the years the unit has grown considerably and crowd control has been undertaken by the Public Safety Unit which falls under the control of the Public Safety and Emergency Management command.
Organization
An unmarked ETF vehicle on the scene of a high-risk incident in North York in 2015
The Emergency Task Force currently comprises 82 officers from all units who are tactically trained. There are seven Special Weapons Teams consisting of 10 officers each. The teams are on-call 24 hours a day, every day of the week. Each tactical team has a team leader, assaulters, snipers, bomb technicians, and a negotiator. All team members are trained as assaulters, and thus can perform any necessary tasks requiring force.
The negotiation team consists of the two ETF Staff Sergeant supervisors. If a situation is not resolved by a member of a Special Weapons Team, who is a trained negotiator, the negotiation team will be called in to take over the negotiations. In more complex calls involving suicidal, homicidal-suicidal, or violent emotionally disturbed individuals, a forensic psychiatrist, who has been on the negotiation team for the past 22 years, can be called to the scene to advise the negotiators and/or incident commander.
Three of the TPS's specialized units compose the ETF. These include the special weapons teams (tactical), the explosive disposal unit (EDU), and the emergency response unit (ERU). The ERU provides specialized equipment for the ETF, including high-powered lights, crane, and a mobile command post.
In a medical situation, Toronto EMS tactical paramedics in body armour work along with the ETF.
The ETF maintains a close working relationship with other police tactical teams of the Greater Toronto Area, including the York Regional Police Emergency Response Unit (ERU), the Durham Regional Police Tactical Support Unit (TSU), and the Peel Regional Police Tactical and Rescue Unit (TRU).
Location
The unit is located in Toronto, in a 35,000-square-foot (3,300m2) building that was built in 1989. It contains:
meeting rooms
two shooting ranges
a rappelling tower
an exercise room
a large garage to house the unit's specialized vehicles
The teams train at their Don Mills station, as well as at CFB Borden,[2] a Canadian Forces (CF) base approximately an hour and a half drive north of Toronto. The unit also trains with members of the CF's counter-terrorism unit Joint Task Force 2, who are based at the Dwyer Hill Training Facility outside of Ottawa.
ETF also operates Northrop Grumman Remotec Andros MK V1A bomb disposal remote robots to defuse suspected bombs or suspicious objects. The newest robot used by the team is the Remotec Andros F6B.
The ETF has been operating an arsenal of armoured vehicles, which provides ETF officers with increased ballistic protection and capabilities. Since the summer of 2005, the ETF has operated the Armet Trooper, which can be used to rescue injured civilians or officers. ETF now operates the Terradyne Armored Vehicles Gurkha specifically the MPV variant which has been modified for ETF usage, replacing the aging Armet Trooper's roles.
ETF responded to an operation that involved resolving a hostage-taking situation on December 31, 1999. A man took a doctor at St Michael's Hospital hostage, holding the doctor at gunpoint. The incident ended when two ETF officers fired three shots, killing the man.
ETF responded to an operation that involved resolving a hostage-taking situation on August 25, 2004. A man with a history of domestic violence took a woman hostage, holding her at gunpoint during morning rush hour just outside Union Station in downtown Toronto. The incident ended when an ETF sharpshooter fired a shot, killing the man. The hostage was traumatized but unharmed.[4][5]
ETF responded to another operation that involved an off-duty 33 Division Officer inside a CIBC bank on Lawrence and Victoria Park. On February 26, 2008, ETF, K-9, and officers from 33 Division were called to a bank robbery in progress. Unknown to the 16-year-old suspect, officers surrounded the bank and waited for the suspect to exit. The suspect left the bank only to be tackled by the off-duty officer and awaiting ETF.[6]
ETF officers were involved with Project Fusion arrests. This was an investigation led by the Province of Ontario Guns and Gangs Task Force, whose officers were working hand-in-hand with other services, mainly the Durham Regional Police Drug and Gang Enforcement Units. These arrests happened on the morning of April 1, 2009 and saw over 120 locations raided by not only Toronto Police tactical officers, but also officers from surrounding police services as well from as far away as Belleville and London, Ontario. In total, 38 police tactical units were used for these warrants. The centre of the raids was at the area of Markham and Eglinton, but also included locations in Peel and York Region, along with several locations in Durham Region.[citation needed]
The ETF responded to a call on board a TTC bus in which an emotionally disturbed person tried to hijack the bus at knife point on August 2, 2016. The ETF and their psychiatrist negotiated with the man for over five hours and were successful in getting him to surrender; they were highly praised by the media for taking the time to resolve the scene peacefully.[7]
In popular culture
The Canadian television seriesFlashpoint, which aired in both Canada and the United States from 2008 to 2012, focused on a fictional version of the ETF called the "Strategic Response Unit" (SRU).[8][9]
The Emergency Response Team are police tactical units of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police based throughout Canada and are mainly part-time teams. According to the RCMP, the ERT "is a group of highly-trained RCMP members capable of employing specialized weapons, equipment, and tactics to resolve extremely high-risk situations." The ERT is also mandated to assess the situation and determine whether extreme danger or the presence of small arms cannot be easily resolved by RCMP officers on general duties or by other police forces throughout Canada. The ERT offers consulting services to its fellow officers such as firearms files and shootings that involve police officers.
The Special Tactics and Rescue (STAR) is an elite tactical unit of the Singapore Police Force responsible for conducting counter-terrorism and hostage rescue operations in Singapore. It is under operational control of the SPF's Special Operations Command.
A police tactical unit (PTU) is a specialized police unit trained and equipped to handle situations that are beyond the capabilities of ordinary law enforcement units because of the level of violence involved. The tasks of a police tactical unit may include executing dangerous search warrants and arrest warrants for dangerous persons; arresting or neutralizing dangerous or mentally ill armed persons; and intervening in high risk situations such as shootouts, standoffs, hostage-takings, and terrorist incidents.
The Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) was an elite police tactical unit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The SERT was formed in 1986 to provide a tactical capability to respond to major terrorist incidents throughout Canada. The unit was disbanded in 1993 when responsibility for counter terrorist response transferred from the RCMP to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).
Special Tasks and Rescue Group is the Police Tactical Group of the South Australia Police.
The York Regional Police (YRP) is the police service of the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada. YRP was formed in 1971 from the police forces maintained by the nine municipalities which amalgamated into York Region at the time. The force employs over 1,500 sworn members and 618 unsworn members as of 2015.
The Special Task Force (STF) is the elite Tier 1 police tactical unit of the South African Police Service (SAPS). The Special Task Force handles high risk operations that fall beyond the scope of classic policing which require specialised skills.
The Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) is the police service operated by and serving the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, Canada. The DRPS has a strength of over 900 sworn officers and over 300 unsworn members, and serves the following local municipalities, with a combined population of 706,200:
Calgary Police Service (CPS) is the municipal police service of the City of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is the largest municipal police service in Alberta and third largest municipal force in Canada behind the Toronto Police Service and the Montreal Police Service.
The State Protection Group (SPG) is part of the Counter Terrorism & Special Tactics Command of the New South Wales Police Force and was established in 1991 to deal with extraordinary policing responses. The SPG directly supports police in high-risk incidents such as sieges with specialised tactical, negotiation, intelligence and command-support services. The unit also provides rescue and bomb disposal support, canine policing, and armoury services.
The Special Operations Group is the police tactical unit of the Public Security Police (PSP), the national police force of Portugal. GOE was created in 1982 and has around 200 operatives. Although a police unit, the GOE is employed worldwide, similar to the French GIGN or to the German GSG 9.
The Hamilton Police Service (HPS) is the police service of the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, the service employed 829 sworn officers and 414 non-sworn staff, serving a population of about 570 000 residents. The service's headquarters are located at 155 King William St., Hamilton, Ontario. As of 2022, the service's budget is $183 542 539, roughly 18.5% of the City's overall budget. It is one of the oldest police forces in Ontario.
The Security Operations Group (SOG) is a unit of elite corrections officers of Corrective Services NSW, Australia formerly known as the Hostage Response Group (HRG).
The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) is the standing police force of the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands. The police force was formed in 1907 and currently (2009) stands at 343 enlisted officers, tasked with tackling Crime in the Cayman Islands.
The Emergency Response Unit (ERU) is the police tactical unit of the Garda Síochána, Ireland's national police and security service. The unit was a section of the forces' Special Detective Unit (SDU), under the Crime and Security Branch (CSB) until 2017, when the Special Tactics and Operational Command was created to take over its operational duties alongside Armed Support Units.
The Felony Investigative Assistance Team (FIAT) is a multi-jurisdictional police task force comprising 16 law enforcement agencies in Cook County, Illinois, and DuPage County, Illinois. The taskforce covers approximately 300,000 residents in those jurisdictions. It is broken down into five units, four of which are staffed by assigned officers.
HUSAR is the Toronto Heavy Urban Search and Rescue unit CAN-TF3 - an urban search and rescue unit able to respond to disaster situations at a city, provincial and national level, as well as offer international assistance.
Police tactical group (PTG) is the generic term used to refer to highly trained Australian and New Zealand police tactical units that tactically manage and resolve high-risk incidents, including sieges, armed-offender situations and terrorist incidents.
The Columbia Police Department (CPD) is the principal law enforcement agency serving the city of Columbia, Missouri in the United States. It protects a metropolitan population of nearly 127,000 with 187 sworn police officers.
↑ Doyle, John (6 December 2012). "Flashpoint: a landmark Canadian cop series ends". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 18 May 2020. ...Co-creators Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern developed the idea for a series loosely inspired by the Toronto Police Emergency Task Force. The fictional unit on TV, an elite squad called the Strategic Response Unit (SRU), deals with extreme situations such as hostage-taking and bomb threats.
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