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A police tactical unit (PTU) is a specialized
police The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...
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 ...
s for dangerous suspects, arresting or neutralizing dangerous armed suspects, and intervening in high risk situations such as shootouts, hostage takings, and
terrorist 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 ...
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,
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 Close-quarters combat (CQC) or close-quarters battle (CQB) is a tactical situation that involves a physical fight with firearms involved between multiple combatants at short range. It can occur between military units, police/corrections office ...
, door breaching, and
counterterrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...
. 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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, 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 country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, 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-gover ...
uses the term police tactical group. The
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
uses the term special intervention unit for national counterterrorist PTUs.


Characteristics

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 equi ...
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.


See also

*
List of police tactical units This is a list of active police tactical units. Definition Police tactical units are specialized units of a police force tasked with resolving high risk / critical incidents, including: * high risk armed offender / suspect searches / apprehe ...


Notes


References


Further reading

* *


External links

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