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 tasks may include executing search warrants and

arrest warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual, or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a j ...

s for dangerous suspects, arresting or neutralizing dangerous armed suspects, and intervening in high risk situations such as shootouts, hostage takings, and terrorist incidents.

Definition

Police tactical units are dedicated units composed of personnel selected and trained in tactical skillsets to carry out the responsibilities of the unit, including

use of force The use of force, in the context of law enforcement, may be defined as the "amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject". Use of force doctrines can be employed by law enforcement officers and military perso ...

arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questi ...

procedures, close-quarters combat, door breaching, and

counterterrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that Government, governments, law enforcement, business, and Intelligence agency, intellig ...

. A PTU is equipped with specialized police and military-type equipment. PTU personnel may also be trained in crisis negotiation skills. A PTU can be part of either a police force under the authority of civilian officials; or a

gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...

-style police force under the authority of an interior or defense agency, that may have formal military status. Other government agencies, depending on the country, may establish specialized units with comparable taskings, training and equipment, such as the coast guard,

customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

, or corrections. In the United States, police tactical units are known by the generic term of special weapons and tactics (SWAT). In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

uses the term police tactical group. The European Union uses the term special intervention unit for national counterterrorist PTUs.

Characteristics

Anti-Firearms Squad of the Fukushima Prefectural Police during an exercise

Police tactical units have similarities to military

special forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

units such as organization, selection, training, equipment, and operational methodologies. 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". 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.

Notes

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline, Police tactical units Law enforcement units

Definition

Characteristics

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links