A SWAT vehicle, police armored vehicle, or police rescue vehicle is a non-military armored vehicle used by police tactical units to respond to incidents. They are most often in configurations similar to military light utility vehicles, infantry mobility vehicles, or armoured personnel carriers. They are generally designed to have armor that can sufficiently block high-caliber rounds, space to carry the unit's equipment, and sufficient passenger seating; some also allow for additional personnel to hang onto the side of the vehicle in transit.
A SWAT vehicle may simply be an unarmored van, SUV or truck used to transport equipment or officers or used as a command post. Other more specialized vehicles may be armored personnel carriers or MRAPs designed allow officers to operate in situations where armed confrontation is likely. Early versions of SWAT vehicles were based on production vans such as the International Harvester Metro Van. [1]
Specialized heavy-duty commercial vehicles can be up-fitted and built solely as SWAT vehicles, such as the Lenco BearCat, a popular SWAT vehicle used by police forces across North America and worldwide.
Ambulances and armored trucks can also be converted into SWAT vans or trucks. De-militarized armored personnel carriers can be used for this purpose, as is the case with the Phoenix Police Department which used an M113 armored personnel carrier as part of its inventory, or the Florida Highway Patrol which has three Cadillac Gage Commandos.
Among other armoured vehicles, the SWAT units of the French National Police RAID and Research and Intervention Brigade (BRI) are equipped with different armoured vans, such as Panhard PVP, former armored cash transport car, [2] and infantry mobility vehicles such as Nexter Titus. [3]
Armoured police vehicles were first introduced after World War I by German police forces, who had more than hundred armoured vehicles called German : Sonderwagen (German for special automobile). Nowadays the Federal Police and the state police forces still maintain armoured vans, like Sonderwagen 4 and Sonderwagen 5. The federal police recently[ when? ] also ordered the LAPV Enok in addition to its Mowag Eagle and ATF Dingo. The SEK special state police units use armored vehicles like the LAPV Enok and the Survivor R. [4] [5] [6]
Riot Police Units have been operating some series of Armoured buses ( 警備車 , Keibi-sha), mainly used as mobile shelters and barriers. More heavily-armored vehicles called Special Armored Vehicles ( 特型警備車 , Tokugata-keibi-sha) were introduced in the 1960s. The first deployed model was called Type F-3, based on Mitsubishi's cab-after-engine trucks. They were initially treated as idlers because there are only few reports of gun violence in Japan, but they were highly appreciated during the Asama-Sansō incident in 1972 and their significance were widely recognized. [7]
After several model changes, Type PV-2 based on the Mitsubishi Fuso Canter is now deployed nationwide, mainly for anti-firearms squads. There are also simplified versions called Special Armored Van ( 特型遊撃車 , Tokugata-yūgeki-sha), and much larger Heavy Special Armored Vehicle ( 銃器対策警備車 , Jūki-taisaku-keibi-sha); the latter is dedicated to the Special Assault Teams. [7]
Police in the United Kingdom, particularly the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), has a great number of police role armoured vehicles based upon a range of base platforms including the Land Rover Defender and the OVIK Crossway. The internal security situation in Northern Ireland demands that the police operate up to 450 armoured vehicles which are optimised for public order duties. The PSNI uses OVIK Pangolin armoured public order vehicles. UK Police are seeing upgrades within their fleet across the different forces, with West Yorkshire Police acquiring two Lenco Bearcats, popular with United States Law Enforcement agencies.
SWAT units may also employ ARVs (Armored Rescue Vehicle [8] ) for insertion, maneuvering, or during tactical operations such as the rescue of civilians, officers, firefighters, and/or military personnel pinned down by gunfire. To avoid detection by suspects during insertion in urban environments, SWAT units may also use modified buses, vans, trucks, or other seemingly normal vehicles. During the 1997 North Hollywood shootout, LAPD SWAT commandeered an armored cash-delivery truck, which they used to extract wounded civilians and officers from the raging firefight with the heavily armed bank robbers.
In the United States, a SWAT team is a generic term for a police tactical unit.
Imperial Japanese Naval Landing Forces or Imperial Japanese Marines were marines units in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) organized for offensive operations and for the defense of Japanese naval facilities both overseas and in the Japanese home islands.
The Special Assault Team is a police tactical unit maintained by individual Japanese prefectural police forces and supervised by the National Police Agency. It is a national-level counterterrorism unit that cooperates with territorial-level Anti-Firearms Squads and Counter-NBC Terrorism Squads. Most information on the unit has been confidential, its existence officially revealed only in 1996.
The Police Tactical Unit is a unit within the Hong Kong Police Force which provides an immediate manpower reserve for use in large-scale emergencies. Unit companies are attached to all land Regions and are available for internal security, crowd control, anti-crime operations, disaster response and riot control throughout Hong Kong. The PTU is often referred as the 'Blue Berets', which is in reference to the blue berets worn as part of the uniform.
The Special Security Team is a police tactical unit of the Japan Coast Guard, based at the Osaka Special Security Station (大阪特殊警備基地). The acronym of its Kanji name has already been used by other units, the abbreviation "SST" is used for this team.
The Petit Véhicule Protégé is a light, general-purpose armoured 4-wheel drive vehicle used by the French Army, made by Panhard. It is also designated as Auverland A4 AVL. Built by Auverland, it is one of the successors to the Peugeot P4.
The Shorland S600 is an armored personnel carrier developed in 1995 as a private venture by Short Brothers plc in Northern Ireland. Unlike the previous Shorland armoured car series, which were based on the Land Rover Defender, Shorts used the much larger chassis and drive-train of the Mercedes-Benz Unimog U1550L/U2150L. In 1996 the Short Brothers sold the complete design to British Aerospace Australia. In 1997 the Kuwait National Guard ordered 22 S600 in five different versions. In 2006, prior to it being acquired by BAE Systems Australia in 2007, Tenix Defence supplied the South Australia Police Special Tasks and Rescue Group with a variant known as the Tenix S-600.
FBI Special Weapons and TacticsTeams are specialized part-time SWAT teams of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI maintains SWAT teams at each of its 56 field offices throughout the United States. Each team is composed of a varying number of certified SWAT operators, dependent on office size and funding.
Non-military armoured vehicles are armoured vehicles used outside professional armed forces. While primarily invented and used for defense/internal conflicts from an equally well armed organized force, armour technology has found a number of other uses outside of this military context.
The Mitsubishi Type 73 Light Truck is a series of military light trucks that are used as mini SUVs in the JSDF. They have been under production by Mitsubishi Motors since 1973. In JSDF service, it is officially known as the 1/2 Ton Truck.
The LAPV Enok is a Light Armoured Patrol Vehicle of the Bundeswehr, mostly in use with the German Army. It is a significantly further developed Wolf SSA, based on the Mercedes-Benz G-Class.
The Emergency Service Unit(ESU) is part of the Special Operations Bureau of the New York City Police Department. The unit provides specialized support and advanced equipment to other NYPD units. Members of ESU are cross-trained in multiple disciplines for police, first aid, and rescue work.
The Type 73 Armored Personnel Carrier is a tracked armored personnel carrier that entered service with Japan Ground Self-Defense Force in 1973. In 1996, the JGSDF adopted the wheeled Type 96 Armored Personnel Carrier to supplement the Type 73 and eventually replace it.
The Type 96 Wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier is an armoured vehicle that entered service with Japan in 1996, manufactured by Komatsu. This vehicle complements the existing fleet of tracked Type 73 Armored Personnel Carriers already in service with plans to eventually replace it.
The TM-170 is an armored personnel carrier was announced for the first time in 1978 and entered production in 1979. It was originally designed primarily for use as an APC or an internal security vehicle, but could be adapted for a wide range of other roles.
The Emergency Service Unit was a rapid reaction force of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (TMPD) in the pre-World War II era. This unit were interpreted as a Japanese counterpart of the New York City Police Department Emergency Service Unit.
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.
Riot Police Unit are the rapid reaction forces of Japanese prefectural police. These units are not only riot police, but a type of emergency service unit to maintain public order against large civil disorder, disaster response, or other emergency situations as the key units of Japanese law enforcement for crisis management. They are operated by prefectural police headquarters (PPH) under the supervision of the Security Bureau of the National Police Agency.
In the law enforcement system in Japan, prefectural police are prefecture-level law enforcement agencies responsible for policing, law enforcement, and public security within their respective prefectures of Japan. Although prefectural police are, in principle, regarded as municipal police, they are mostly under the central oversight and control of the National Police Agency.
The High Risk Modular (HRM) tactical vest is a body armour used by the LAPD SWAT teams The vest was manufactured by Point Blank Body Armour and was issued from 1987 to 2006 when it was replaced by a standard III-A Soft armor vest. - at least 2006