The Beijing Special Weapons and Tactics Unit ( Abbr.: SWAT; ; also known as Beijing Special Police Force or simply 'Beijing SWAT' ) is a police tactical unit in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

that deals with incidents beyond the capabilities of normal patrol officers such as hostage situations, high risk warrants and riot control. The unit, along with the Snow Leopard Commando Unit (SLCU), was tasked with many of the security responsibilities of the 2008 Summer Olympics. It is reputed to be one of the most well-equipped and well-trained of all the SWAT/ Special Police Units in the

PRC China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Jurisdictionally the unit is under the control of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).

History

The Beijing SWAT unit and Snow Leopard Commando Unit (SLCU) were unveiled in a demonstration at the Beijing Police Academy on April 27, 2006, as part of a public relations effort to illustrate the capabilities of the People's Armed Police (PAP) to deal with

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

issues, protection of delegates, and to enforce law and order in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The unit has in recent years received training and advice from Western counter-terrorism units. In June 2008, the unit's 120-operator No. 1 Detachment was renamed Blue Sword or (蓝剑, "Lán jiàn") Commando Unit.

Role

Typically expected of a police tactical unit from any country will be the role of a tactical response team to handle hostage-rescue, high-risk warrants, VIP or dangerous criminal escort duties and sometimes counter-terrorism and anti-riot duties.

Organization

The Beijing SWAT Unit is divided into sub-units consisting of but not limited to: a Helicopter Unit (飞虎队; nicknamed ''

Flying Tigers The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States ...

''), an Underwater Diving team (蛙人队; nicknamed ''

Frogmen A frogman is someone who is trained in scuba diving or swimming underwater in a tactical capacity that includes military, and in some European countries, police work. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver, comb ...

''), female SWAT unit (女子特警队) and a K9 Unit (警犬队).

Training

Recruits are selected from six colleges, including the

Beijing Sports University Beijing Sport University (BSU) (), formerly known as "Central Institute of Physical Education" () and "Beijing Institute of Physical Education" (), is a nation-level public university located in Beijing, China. It is one of the National Key Univ ...

and

Chinese People's Public Security University People's Public Security University of China () is a university in Xicheng District, Beijing, China. It was founded in 1948 and is directly under the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China. The university specialises in ...

. Beijing SWAT members are trained, aside from combat tactics, in many subjects including English, etiquette, cultural dynamics, intelligence gathering, counter-terrorism and anti-riot and anti-nuclear and biological warfare tactics. All SWAT operatives undergo psychiatric evaluation.

Weapons and equipment

The unit is armed with a variety of domestically manufactured weapons such as QBZ-95 assault rifles and QSZ-92 pistols. Vehicles In preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics, the local government allocated CNY 280 million for the Beijing SWAT to procure equipment for operations, some of which went into purchasing specialized vehicles for various duties including the

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and APC's.

References