Politiets Aktionsstyrke (AKS, English: ''The Special Intervention Unit'') is the
police tactical unit
A police tactical unit (PTU) is a specialized police unit trained to handle situations that are beyond the capabilities of ordinary law enforcement units because of the level of violence (or risk of violence) involved. A police tactical unit's tas ...
of the
Danish National Police
The Police of Denmark ( da, Politiet, fo, Løgreglan, kl, Politiit) is the Danish National Police force, and the interior part of the Danish security forces (the Danish military being the exterior) in the Kingdom ( The Danish Realm: Denma ...
. It is meant to handle extraordinarily difficult or life-threatening criminal situations, such as
terrorism,
hostage situations, and
kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...
. It also deals with emergency rescue situations that would be too dangerous for others to handle. The AKS holds responsibility for all anti-terror and counter-terrorism missions in Denmark. It is known that AKS cross-trains with the
army and
navy elite-units
Jægerkorpset and
Frømandskorpset.
Their training includes: tactical shooting, hand-to-hand combat, surveillance, and explosives. Policemen who want to join the unit are required to take and pass selection tests.
Duties
* Counter sniper operation.
* Forced entry operations.
* Apprehension of armed suspects.
* Apprehension of barricaded suspects.
* Force protection during deployment.
* Handling hostage situations.
* Close protection.
History
The unit's operational functions are closely guarded secrets, so not much is known. What has been published is that the unit was created just after the
Munich Summer Olympic incident in 1972.
In 1998 the unit was re-organized to include a permanent force of roughly 100 police officers; it previously "borrowed" officers from regular units on an ''as needed'' basis.
AKS led the operation of clearing and evicting the
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
and
leftist
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
groups from
Ungdomshuset on March 1, 2007.
Its activities are under the jurisdiction of the
Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET).
An officer from AKS was seriously wounded on January 7, 2013, during an arrest operation against three suspected narcotics smugglers. The suspected perpetrator was killed by a headshot and another man was wounded. A third man was arrested. It was the first time that an AKS-officer had been wounded during an operation.
Equipment
*
MP5
*
USP Compact
The USP (''Universelle Selbstladepistole'' or "universal self-loading pistol") is a semi-automatic pistol developed in Germany by Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K) as a replacement for the P7 series of handguns.
History
Design work on a new family of p ...
*
C8 rifle
*
G36c
*
Sako TRG
*
SIG MCX
References
External links
*
Non-military counterterrorist organizations
Specialist law enforcement agencies of Denmark
ATLAS Network
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