SWAT vehicle

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Metro Nashville Police SWAT vehicles. From left to right: Cadillac Gage Ranger, Lenco BearCat, MD 500 helicopter, tactical operations center step van Nash SpecOps Equipment.JPG
Metro Nashville Police SWAT vehicles. From left to right: Cadillac Gage Ranger, Lenco BearCat, MD 500 helicopter, tactical operations center step van

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.

Contents

Production

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.

By country

France

Armored vehicles of the French Research and Intervention Brigade BRI-PP6 Domenjod 130618.jpg
Armored vehicles of the French Research and Intervention Brigade

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]

Germany

An RMMV Survivor R of the State Police of Saxony in Germany Saxony State Police Survivor R (2).jpg
An RMMV Survivor R of the State Police of Saxony in Germany

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]

Japan

A Mitsubishi Fuso Canter Special Armored Vehicle Type PV-2 of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department MPD-tokugatakeibi.jpg
A Mitsubishi Fuso Canter Special Armored Vehicle Type PV-2 of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department

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]

United Kingdom

A Land Rover Defender-based OVIK Pangolin of the Police Service of Northern Ireland on patrol in Belfast PSNI Land Rovers, Belfast (geograph 7467837) (cropped).jpg
A Land Rover Defender-based OVIK Pangolin of the Police Service of Northern Ireland on patrol in Belfast

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.

United States

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.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Special Assault Team</span> Japanese police tactical units

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petit Véhicule Protégé</span> Light armoured vehicle, 2-door truck

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shorland S600</span> Armored personnel carrier

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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non-military armoured vehicle</span> Armored vehicle operated outside military organizations

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">LAPV Enok</span> Armoured car

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type 73 Armored Personnel Carrier</span> Armored personnel carrier

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type 96 Armored Personnel Carrier</span> Japanese wheeled armoured vehicle

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">TM-170</span> Armoured personnel carrier

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.

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<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riot Police Unit</span> Rapid reaction forces of Japanese police

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prefectural police</span> Regional law enforcement agencies in Japan

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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

References

  1. "From WWII Rifles to BearCats: The Evolution of SWAT Team Equipment". Independent Lens. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  2. "Un fourgon de la Brinks transformé en véhicule blindé pour la police". ici, par France Bleu et France 3 (in French). 8 December 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  3. "La brigade de recherche et d'intervention". Direction régionale de la police judiciaire de la préfecture de police de Paris (in French). Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  4. "Nachrichten aus Hamburg". Archived from the original on 14 November 2017.
  5. "Innenminister übergibt sondergeschütztes Gruppenfahrzeug an Spezialeinheiten".
  6. "Polizei Sachsen - Fehler".
  7. 1 2 Kikuchi, Masayuki [in Japanese] (9 June 2018). テロへの備え、警察の「特型警備車」誕生の背景 [Preparing for Terrorist attacks - Background of the birth of the Special Armored Vehicles]. TrafficNews.jp (in Japanese).
  8. "Guidelines for Armored Rescue Vehicles". 1 January 2008. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2011.