National Task Force
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The National Task Force (, ''NI''), formerly known as the National Task Force of the Swedish Civilian Police (), is a
police tactical unit A police tactical unit (PTU) 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. The tasks of a ...
within the National Operations Department of the
Swedish Police Authority The Swedish Police Authority () is the national police, police force (''Polisen'') of Sweden. The first modern police force in Sweden was established in the mid-19th century, and the police remained in effect under Municipalities of Sweden, local ...
.


History

After the assassination of Olof Palme in 1986, two state commissions were appointed to assess Sweden's
counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...
capabilities. As a result, the government ordered the
Swedish National Police Board The Swedish National Police Board (, RPS) was the central Government agencies in Sweden, administrative authority for the police in Sweden from 1 January 1965 to 1 January 2015, when the Swedish Police Authority was established. The Swedish police ...
to organize the "Standby Force Against Terrorism" (''Beredskapsstyrkan mot terrorism'') within the Stockholm County Police Authority in 1990. The group was soon renamed ''Nationella insatsstyrkan'' and became also a resource for the whole of Sweden. The right to make decisions about when they were used was delegated by the government to the Swedish National Police Board. After a parliamentary decision in 2002, the NTF was transferred from the Stockholm County Police Authority to the National Criminal Police (''Rikskriminalpolisen''). I n connection with the reorganization of the police in 2015, the NTF was placed under the National Operations Department.


Tasks and operations

The NTF is meant to handle extraordinarily difficult or life-threatening criminal situations, such as
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
and hostage situations. The main tasks of the unit includes: *
Counter terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to com ...
* Hostage rescue *
Special reconnaissance Special reconnaissance (SR) is conducted by small units, such as a recon team, made up of highly trained military personnel, usually from special forces units and/or military intelligence organizations. Special reconnaissance teams operate behind ...
* High risk arrests * Maritime operations * Negotiation in crisis situations * Reinforced close protection * Securing evidence in complex or high risk situations The unit also conducts intervention tasks in cities or areas located outside of the area of responsibility of the reinforced regional task forces of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, and that are too complex for the regional task forces of the non-metropolitan regions to handle. The NTF has participated in international operations in an advisory role. They regularly accompany the personal protection details of the
Swedish Security Service The Swedish Security Service ( , SÄPO , , formerly , RPS/Säk, until 1989) is a Sweden, Swedish Government agencies in Sweden, government agency organized under the Ministry of Justice (Sweden), Ministry of Justice. It operates as a security ...
abroad, providing a CAT (counter assault team) capability. They were also deployed aboard the
Swedish Coast Guard The Swedish Coast Guard () is a Sweden, Swedish civilian Government agencies in Sweden, government agency tasked with: * maritime surveillance and other control and inspection tasks as well as environmental cleanup after oil spills at sea. * co-o ...
vessels participating in the EU-led border security operation Triton, acting as a boarding party.


Organization

The NTF has one head of the unit with a number of subordinated coordinators, and a staff of experienced police officers from the unit. Under this management group the force is divided into 8 groups: *Alpha *Bravo *Charlie *Delta *Echo *Fox (
sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...
s) *Golf (
sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...
s) *Hotel ( divers) The NTF is part of the National Intervention Concept (NIK). Launched in 2015, this concept standardized and regulated the employment, structure and capabilities of the Swedish police's tactical units. The NIK divides the various tactical units into three levels of capabilities: National capability: Provided by the NTF Reinforced regional capability: Provided by the RRTF (Piketen) in regions
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
,
West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
and
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
. General regional capability: Provided by regional tactical teams dispersed throughout their respective region. This capability exists in regions
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
,
East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...
, Mid and Bergslagen.


Selection

The unit recruits operators bi-annually. To be eligible for service with the NTF the applicant is required to have completed either: * Police training: Two and a half year in length (including probationary service period) * Minimum of 4 years of continuous service in either the
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
,
coast guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...
or
customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...
Applicants who meet the basic requirements are then tested on their physical and psychological stamina during two 2 day periods. If successful they're invited to attend a grueling 10 day selection course in the field. At the end of the recruitment process an average of 6-10% of the candidates remain and progress to the roughly 7 months long operator training course. Candidates not already serving as police officers undergo a shorter, compressed police training roughly 18 months in length (including a 6-month probationary service period) to become badged police officers prior to attending the operator training course.


Service

Members of the NTF work full-time in the force. At the units inception the operators used to work two weeks on the unit followed by two weeks of regular police work, but as the need for them increased they changed it to full-time to cope with the demand and the need for more training. Most members have prior military service and as of recently direct application from the military to the unit is possible. About 50% of the day-to-day work is dedicated to training, with the remaining 50% consisting of readiness and operational missions. The majority of the units operational taskings comes from the
Swedish Security Service The Swedish Security Service ( , SÄPO , , formerly , RPS/Säk, until 1989) is a Sweden, Swedish Government agencies in Sweden, government agency organized under the Ministry of Justice (Sweden), Ministry of Justice. It operates as a security ...
, being the agency with the primary responsibility for counter terrorism and counter extremism. The unit perform roughly 100 operational missions per year. The NTF has a close and active cooperation with the
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
, they have aviation support via the Air Force's UH-60 Black Hawks and regularly train with their military counterpart, the Special Operations Task Group. The NTF also has an active cooperation with several equivalent units in Europe in place via the ATLAS counter terrorism network, especially with other Nordic units such as the Danish AKS and the Norwegian
Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...
. For maritime operations the NTF is supported by the
Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...
, whose National boarding group operates rigid-hulled inflatable boats.


Equipment

The special equipment of the NTF is significantly different from that of the ordinary police. Operators are equipped with different radios, as wells as vest and uniforms from American manufacture
Crye Precision
ballistic Ops Core helmets and AN/PVS-31 night vision goggles. They distinguish themselves from other Swedish police by the green uniforms worn while operating in uniform.


Commanders

*????–2010 – Bertil Olofsson *2010–2015 – Marie Jarnérus *2015–present – Hampus Nygårds


Similar units

* – GSG 9 * –
RAID RAID (; redundant array of inexpensive disks or redundant array of independent disks) is a data storage virtualization technology that combines multiple physical Computer data storage, data storage components into one or more logical units for th ...
* – FBI Hostage Rescue Team * – AKS * –
Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...
* – SCO19 * - SIU


See also

* Law enforcement in Sweden * Reinforced Regional Task Force (Piketen)


References

{{Reflist


External links


Official Webpage
ATLAS Network Law enforcement agencies of Sweden Police tactical units Task forces