Police tactical unit

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Osaka Prefectural Police Riot Police Unit officers arresting a suspect during training Counter-terrorism training of the Osaka Prefectural Police.jpg
Osaka Prefectural Police Riot Police Unit officers arresting a suspect during training

A police tactical unit (PTU) [lower-alpha 1] 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 (or risk of violence) involved. [2] [3] [4] A police tactical unit's tasks 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. [5] [6]

Contents

Definition

GSG 9 (operator and helicopter pictured here in 1978) was established in September 1972 following the Munich massacre to combat terrorism, and was one of the first police tactical units. Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F054217-0020, Bundesgrenzschutz, GSG 9.jpg
GSG 9 (operator and helicopter pictured here in 1978) was established in September 1972 following the Munich massacre to combat terrorism, and was one of the first police tactical units.

Police tactical units are dedicated units composed of personnel selected and trained in tactical skillsets to carry out the responsibilities of the unit, and in use of force policies, including lethal force for counterterrorism. [8] A PTU is equipped with specialized police and military-type equipment. [9] PTU personnel may also be trained in crisis negotiation skills. [10]

A police tactical unit can be part of either a police force under the authority of civilian officials, [11] or a gendarmerie-style force under the authority of civilian officials (interior ministry) or a defence ministry that may have formal military status. [12] [11] Other government agencies, depending on the country, may establish specialized units with comparable taskings, training, and equipment, such as border guard, coast guard, customs, or corrections. [13]

In the United States, police tactical units are known by the generic term of Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) teams; [14] [15] the term originated from the Philadelphia Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department in the 1960s. [16] [14] [17] In Australia, the federal government uses the term police tactical group. [3] The European Union uses the term special intervention unit for national counterterrorist PTUs. [18]

Characteristics

An FBI SWAT team advancing during an aircraft hijacking training exercise at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi FBI SWAT anti-hijacking response.jpg
An FBI SWAT team advancing during an aircraft hijacking training exercise at Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi

Police tactical units have similarities to military special forces units such as organization, selection, training, equipment, and operational methodologies. [19] [20] Police tactical units, similar to military units, are not gender diverse, with female members being rare. [21] [22]

For "certain counter terrorism operations, such as hostage rescue, there is a significant convergence of roles, tactics and force when employed in either an armed conflict or policing role". [23] Aside from counterterrorism, the roles of police and military units differ in that the role of military units can result in the use of the maximum permissible force against enemy combatants while the role of police units is to use only minimal force sufficient to subdue suspected criminals, including negotiation. [24] [25] [26]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Some academic literature from North America uses the term "police paramilitary unit" (PPU) to describe police tactical units. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counterterrorism</span> Activity to defend against or prevent terrorist actions

Counterterrorism, also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to combat or eliminate terrorism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SWAT</span> American law enforcement unit

In the United States, a SWAT team is a generic term for a police tactical unit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramilitary</span> An organization similar to, but not part of a military

A paramilitary is a military that is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carry out duties that a country's military or police forces are unable or unwilling to handle. Other organizations may be considered paramilitaries by structure alone, despite being unarmed or lacking a combat role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Armed Police</span> Chinese paramilitary organization

The Chinese People's Armed Police Force is a Chinese paramilitary organization primarily responsible for internal security, riot control, counter-terrorism, disaster response, law enforcement and maritime rights protection as well as providing support to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) during wartime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Close-quarters combat</span> Physical confrontation with firearms at close range

Close-quarters combat (CQC) or close-quarters battle (CQB) is a close combat situation between multiple combatants involving ranged or melee combat. It can occur between military units, law enforcement and criminal elements, and in other similar situations. CQB is typically defined as a short duration, high intensity conflict characterized by sudden violence at close range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Police Tactical Unit (Singapore)</span> Paramilitary specialist unit of the Singapore Police Force

The Police Tactical Unit (PTU) is a paramilitary specialist unit of the Singapore Police Force and comes under the direct command of the Special Operations Command. Based in Queenstown, it is the main anti-rioting and disaster-management unit of the police force. They are also called upon to handle cases of serious crime in progress, particularly cases involving firearms. From 2004, PTU officers also presented greater public prominence when they conducted patrols in public areas, such as at Orchard Road, Holland Village and Serangoon Gardens Estate, partly as a response to greater terrorism concerns.

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viking Squad</span> Counter-terrorism military unit

The Special Unit of the National Police Commissioner, more commonly referred to as the Viking Squad, is the police tactical unit of the Icelandic Police.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Special forces of Australia</span>

The special forces of the Australian Defence Force are units of Special Operations Command and associated units of the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force that conduct and or support special operations to advance and protect the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. The special forces of Australia have a lineage to a variety of units raised in the Second World War such as the Independent and Commando Companies, Z Special Unit, Navy Beach Commandos, and the Coastwatchers. Australian special forces have most recently been deployed to Iraq in Operation Okra as the Special Operations Task Group, as the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan, in Afghanistan in support of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service and regularly for counter-terrorism pre-deploy to locations of major domestic events throughout Australia in readiness to support law enforcement such as the 2014 G20 Brisbane summit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dienst Speciale Interventies</span> Dutch elite police unit

The Dienst Speciale Interventies, commonly abbreviated DSI, is the elite police tactical unit of the Dutch National Police Corps and was formally established on 1 July 2006. The DSI is tasked with neutralising terrorist incidents and other violent public order disruptions for which regular police units are inadequately equipped. In total, the DSI consists of about 600 active personnel.

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 resolves high-risk incidents, including sieges, armed offender situations and terrorist incidents.

The counter-terrorism page primarily deals with special police or military organizations that carry out arrest or direct combat with terrorists. This page deals with the other aspects of counter-terrorism:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law enforcement by country</span>

In many countries, particularly those with a federal system of government, there may be several law enforcement agencies, police or police-like organizations, each serving different levels of government and enforcing different subsets of the applicable law.

The Special Tactics Group (STG) is the full-time police tactical group of the New Zealand Police. The STG, originally named the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), was established to respond to high-risk situations which are beyond the scope or capacity of everyday policing. STG officers directly support operational police in incidents, such as sieges, with specialist tactical, negotiation, intelligence, and command support services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deployable Specialized Forces</span> Military unit

The Deployable Specialized Forces (DSF) —formerly Deployable Operations Group— are part of the United States Coast Guard that provide highly equipped, trained and organized deployable specialized forces, to the Coast Guard, United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Department of Defense (DoD) and inter-agency operational and tactical commanders. The command was formerly headquartered in Arlington, Virginia where it was established on 20 July 2007, and was commanded by a captain. It was decommissioned by the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Robert Papp on 1 October 2013, with units previously assigned to the DOG being split between Coast Guard Pacific and Atlantic Area commands. The units were subsequently reorganized under Deployable Specialized Forces (DSF).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenco BearCat</span> American armored personnel carrier

The Lenco BearCat is a wheeled SWAT vehicle designed for military and law enforcement use. It is in use by several military forces and law enforcement agencies around the world.

The 69 Commando ; also known as Very Able Troopers 69 is an elite multi-tasking special forces unit of the Royal Malaysia Police. The VAT 69 is based at Ulu Kinta, Perak and together with Special Actions Unit, they are part of Pasukan Gerakan Khas. The mission of 69 Commando is to conduct high-risk tasks such as counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, intelligence gathering and counter-insurgency within the borders of Malaysia.

References

  1. ↑ Alvaro 2000, p. 3.
  2. ↑ Alvaro, Sam (2000). Tactical law enforcement in Canada; an exploratory survey of Canadian police agencies (Thesis). Carleton University. p. 1,37,51-52. ISBN   9780612484191 . Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  3. 1 2 Australia-New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee (2017). Active Armed Offender Guidelines for Crowded Places (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. p. 3. ISBN   9781925593976 . Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  4. ↑ Rantatalo, Oscar (2013). Sensemaking and organising in the policing of high risk situations: focusing the Swedish Police National Counter-Terrorist Unit (PDF) (Thesis). Umeå: Department of Education, Umeå University. p. 15,32. ISBN   9789174596991 . Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  5. ↑ Alvaro 2000, p. 99-103.
  6. ↑ NTOA 2018, p. 10.
  7. ↑ Alvaro 2000, p. 39-40.
  8. ↑ NTOA (April 2018). "Tactical Response and Operations Standard for Law Enforcement Agencies" (PDF). p. 12,34,38. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  9. ↑ NTOA 2018, p. 45.
  10. ↑ NTOA 2018, p. 35.
  11. 1 2 Alvaro 2000, p. 40.
  12. ↑ Lutterbeck, Derek (2013). The Paradox of Gendarmeries : Between Expansion, Demilitarization and Dissolution (PDF). SSR PAPER 8. Geneva: Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). p. 7. ISBN   9789292222864 . Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  13. ↑ Alvaro 2000, p. 44.
  14. 1 2 Rantatalo 2013, p. 15.
  15. ↑ Alvaro 2000, p. 72.
  16. ↑ Mitchel P. Roth & James Stuart Olson, Historical Dictionary of Law Enforcement, Westport, Ct: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, p. 333 and; John S. Dempsey & Linda S. Forst, An Introduction to Policing, Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning, 2011, p. 276.
  17. ↑ Alvaro 2000, p. 27-28.
  18. ↑ "On the improvement of cooperation between the special intervention units of the Member States of the European Union in crisis situations". Council Decision No. 2008/617/JHA of 23 June 2008 . Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  19. ↑ North Atlantic Treaty Organization (18 December 2020). NATO Glossary of Terms and Definitions (PDF) (in English and French). Vol. AAP-06 (2020 ed.). Brussels: NATO Standardization Agency. p. 119. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 June 2021.
  20. ↑ Alexander, John B (July 2010). "4: Comparison between SOF and Law Enforcement Agencies". Convergence: Special Operations Forces and Civilian Law Enforcement (Report). JSOU report 10-6. MacDill Air Force Base, Florida: Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) Press. pp. 48–62. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  21. ↑ Dahle, Thorvald O. (March 2015). "Women and SWAT: Making Entry into Police Tactical Teams" (PDF). Law Enforcement Executive Forum. Macomb, Illinois: Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board Executive Institute. 15 (1): 21,25. doi:10.19151/LEEF.2015.1501b. ISSN   1552-9908. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2017.
  22. ↑ Turnley, Jessica Glicken; Stewart, Dona J.; Rubright, Rich; Quirin, Jason (June 2014). Special Operations Forces Mixed-Gender Elite Teams (PDF). William Knarr (Project Leader). MacDill Air Force Base, Florida: Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) Press. pp. 11, 85–86. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  23. ↑ Watkin, Kenneth (2016). Fighting at the Legal Boundaries: Controlling the Use of Force in Contemporary Conflict. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 437. ISBN   9780190457976.
  24. ↑ Newburn, Tim; Neyroud, Peter (2013). Dictionary of Policing. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. p. 187. ISBN   9781843922872.
  25. ↑ Weber, Diane Cecilia (1999). Warrior Cops: The Ominous Growth of Paramilitarism in American Police Departments (PDF). Cato Briefing Papers No. 50. Washington: Cato Institute. p. 3. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  26. ↑ Rantatalo 2013, p. 23.

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