Police tactical unit

{{other uses|Police tactical unit (disambiguation)}}File:Counter-terrorism training of the Osaka Prefectural Police.jpg Prefectural Police Riot Police Unit officers arresting a suspect during training]]

A police tactical unit (PTU){{refn|Some academic literature from North America uses the term "police paramilitary unit" (PPU) to describe police tactical units.{{sfn|Alvaro|2000|p=3}}|group=lower-alpha}} 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.{{cite thesis|last1=Alvaro|first1=Sam|title=Tactical law enforcement in Canada; an exploratory survey of Canadian police agencies|publisher=Carleton University|url=https://curve.carleton.ca/cd0e2f4a-ed69-46f3-bd41-c372ee1e7a81|date=2000|isbn=9780612484191|page=1,37,51-52|access-date=29 August 2021}}{{cite book|author1=Australia-New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee|title=Active Armed Offender Guidelines for Crowded Places|date=2017|publisher=Commonwealth of Australia|page=3|url=https://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/Media-and-publications/Publications/Documents/active-armed-offender-guidelines-crowded-places.pdf|isbn=9781925593976|access-date=30 September 2017}}{{cite thesis|last1=Rantatalo|first1=Oscar|title=Sensemaking and organising in the policing of high risk situations: focusing the Swedish Police National Counter-Terrorist Unit|date=2013|publisher=Department of Education, Umeå University|location=Umeå|isbn=9789174596991|url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:642473/FULLTEXT02.pdf|page=15,32|access-date=25 May 2017}} 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.{{sfn|Alvaro|2000|p=99-103}}{{sfn|NTOA|2018|p=10}}

Definition

File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F054217-0020, Bundesgrenzschutz, GSG 9.jpg (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.{{sfn|Alvaro|2000|p=39-40}}]]

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.{{cite web|author=NTOA|title=Tactical Response and Operations Standard for Law Enforcement Agencies|url=http://ntoa.org/pdf/swatstandards.pdf|date=April 2018|page=12,34,38|access-date=3 February 2021}} A PTU is equipped with specialized police and military-type equipment.{{sfn|NTOA|2018|p=45}} A PTU may have specialized combat assault dogs with personnel trained as dog handlers.{{cite book |last1=Neville |first1=Leigh |others=Illustrated by Adam Hook| title=European Counter-Terrorist Units 1972-2017 |date=2017 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Oxford |isbn=9781472825278 |page=13 |series=Elite 220}} PTU personnel may also be trained in crisis negotiation.{{sfn|NTOA|2018|p=35}}

A police tactical unit can be part of either a police force under the authority of civilian officials,{{sfn|Alvaro|2000|p=40}} or a gendarmerie-style force under the authority of civilian officials (interior ministry) or a defence ministry that may have formal military status.{{cite book |last1=Lutterbeck |first1=Derek |title=The Paradox of Gendarmeries : Between Expansion, Demilitarization and Dissolution |date=2013 |publisher=Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) |location=Geneva |isbn=9789292222864 |url=https://issat.dcaf.ch/download/34418/497173/SSR_8_EN.pdf |series=SSR PAPER 8|page=7|accessdate=3 February 2021}}{{sfn|Alvaro|2000|p=40}} 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.{{sfn|Alvaro|2000|p=44}}

In the United States, police tactical units are known by the generic term SWAT (special weapons and tactics) team;{{sfn|Rantatalo|2013|p=15}}{{sfn|Alvaro|2000|p=72}} the term originated from the Philadelphia Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department in the 1960s.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.{{sfn|Rantatalo|2013|p=15}}{{sfn|Alvaro|2000|p=27-28}} In Australia, the federal government uses the term police tactical group. The European Union uses the term special intervention unit for national counterterrorist PTUs.{{cite act |url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:32008D0617|title=On the improvement of cooperation between the special intervention units of the Member States of the European Union in crisis situations|date=23 June 2008|access-date=26 May 2017|number=2008/617/JHA|type=Council Decision}}

Characteristics

File:FBI SWAT anti-hijacking response.jpg 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.{{cite book|title=NATO Glossary of Terms and Definitions|language=en, fr|author=North Atlantic Treaty Organization|date=18 December 2020|volume=AAP-06|edition=2020|url=https://nso.nato.int/nso/ZPUBLIC/_BRANCHINFO/TERMINOLOGY_PUBLIC/NON-CLASSIFIED%20NATO%20GLOSSARIES/AAP-6.PDF|publisher=NATO Standardization Agency|location=Brussels|page=119|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602210816/https://nso.nato.int/nso/ZPUBLIC/_BRANCHINFO/TERMINOLOGY_PUBLIC/NON-CLASSIFIED%20NATO%20GLOSSARIES/AAP-6.PDF |archive-date=2 June 2021 |url-status=dead}}{{cite report|last1=Alexander|first1=John B|title=Convergence: Special Operations Forces and Civilian Law Enforcement|date=July 2010|publisher=Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) Press|location=MacDill Air Force Base, Florida|pages=48–62|chapter-url=https://jsou.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=51792184|access-date=29 August 2021|chapter=4: Comparison between SOF and Law Enforcement Agencies|series=JSOU report 10-6}} Police tactical units, similar to military units, are not gender diverse, with female members being rare.{{cite journal |last1=Dahle |first1=Thorvald O. |date=March 2015 |title=Women and SWAT: Making Entry into Police Tactical Teams |url=https://www2.cohpa.ucf.edu/media/1008908/leef-march_2015_issue_ada_done__1_.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Law Enforcement Executive Forum |location=Macomb, Illinois |publisher=Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board Executive Institute |volume=15 |issue=1 |page=21,25 |doi=10.19151/LEEF.2015.1501b |doi-broken-date=19 January 2025 |issn=1552-9908 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006092234/https://www2.cohpa.ucf.edu/media/1008908/leef-march_2015_issue_ada_done__1_.pdf |archivedate=6 October 2017}}{{cite book |last1=Turnley |first1=Jessica Glicken |url=https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/wisr-studies/SOCOM%20-%20JSOU%20Study%20on%20Special%20Operations%20Forces%20Mixed-Gender%20Elite%20Team3.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925103247/https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/wisr-studies/SOCOM%20-%20JSOU%20Study%20on%20Special%20Operations%20Forces%20Mixed-Gender%20Elite%20Team3.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 25, 2020 |title=Special Operations Forces Mixed-Gender Elite Teams |last2=Stewart |first2=Dona J. |last3=Rubright |first3=Rich |last4=Quirin |first4=Jason |date=June 2014 |publisher=Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) Press |others=William Knarr (Project Leader) |location=MacDill Air Force Base, Florida |pages=11,85–86 |access-date=3 February 2021}}

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".{{cite book|last1=Watkin|first1=Kenneth|title=Fighting at the Legal Boundaries: Controlling the Use of Force in Contemporary Conflict|date=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|url={{Google books|2NMdDAAAQBAJ|page=437|plainurl=yes}}|isbn=9780190457976|page=437}} 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.{{cite book|last1=Newburn|first1=Tim|author1-link = Tim Newburn|last2=Neyroud|first2=Peter|author2-link = Peter Neyroud|title=Dictionary of Policing|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|location=Abingdon, Oxon|isbn=9781843922872|url={{Google books|1fqAZzIDlgYC|page=187|plainurl=yes}}|page=187}}{{cite book|last1=Weber|first1=Diane Cecilia|title=Warrior Cops: The Ominous Growth of Paramilitarism in American Police Departments.|date=1999|publisher=Cato Institute|location=Washington|series=Cato Briefing Papers No. 50|page=3|url=https://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/bp50.pdf|access-date=25 May 2017}}{{sfn|Rantatalo|2013|p=23}}

Notes

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline|Police tactical units}}

tactical

Category:Non-military counterterrorist organizations