Reinforced Regional Task Force ( sv, Förstärkt Regional Insatsstyrka), prior to 2015 officially known as Piketen (or Piketenheten) is a regional

special operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...

asset of the Swedish Police Authority, similar to

SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

type units 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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. RRTF is called upon when situations occur that are too dangerous for ordinary

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

to handle such as hostage situations, serving high-risk arrest warrants and confronting armed criminals. RRTF units are based in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

and

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

History

The main responsibility of the RRTF is interventions in dangerous situations or dangerous environments, e.g. hostage situations and situations including armed dangerous suspects. Other duties are riot control, escorting VIP's/objects of value and serving high-risk arrest warrants etc. RRTF, formerly known as Piketen, has been active since 1979. Its creation was an answer to the events of the

Norrmalmstorg robbery The Norrmalmstorg robbery was a bank robbery and hostage crisis best known as the origin of the term ''Stockholm syndrome''. It occurred at the Norrmalmstorg Square in Stockholm, Sweden, in August 1973 and was the first criminal event in Sweden ...

in 1973, where robber Jan-Erik "Janne" Olsson took four hostages at Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg ("Norrmalm's Square") in Stockholm. RRTF operators from

and

have been deployed with the EULEX Intervention Group in Kosovo ( Special Team Six), tasked with high-risk operations such as hostage rescue and arresting armed criminals. In 2011, the RRTF officially opened up for any female officers who wish to serve in the unit though none have passed selection yet. Due to the major reorganization efforts of 2015, Piketen was reclassified as "Förstärkt Regional Insatsstyrka", or in English, "Reinforced Regional Task Force", RRTF.

Organization

The RRTFs are stationed in the three largest cities of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and

, providing a day round, year round tactical intervention capability in Police regions Stockholm, West and South. However the units can at request be put to use nationwide all over Sweden. The RRTFs are part of the National Intervention Concept (NIK). Launched in 2015, this concept standardized and regulated the employment, structure and capabilities of the Swedish polices 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

West West or Occident 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 Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

. 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 or Orient 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 fa ...

, Mid and

Bergslagen Bergslagen is a historical, cultural, and linguistic region located north of Lake Mälaren in northern Svealand, Sweden, traditionally known as a mining district. In Bergslagen, the mining and metallurgic industries have been important since the ...

Training

The RRTFs spend about 30% of their time on training, which is mainly focused on high-risk intervention. For example; one or multiple dangerous perpetrators in rural terrain or in an urban environment and perpetrators in houses or vehicles (also including hostage rescue). Such dangerous interventions require a lot of advanced tactical training. The units strives to resolve any given situation as calmly as possible to avoid injury or loss of life and uses highly trained negotiators when tactically possible. Circumstances dictate whether officers operate in uniform or civilian clothing. They mostly make use of unmarked civilian vehicles, primarily Toyota Land Cruisers and Volkswagen Multivans, or special assault vehicles. The unit's officers are well-trained in different methods of entry (MOE), such as

rappelling Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...

and door breaching. They also receive training in close target reconnaissance, close quarters battle, TCCC, self-defense, and various weapon systems. Officers are then specially trained as medics, breachers, specialist drivers etc. To be eligible for RRTF selection an officer must have at least 18 months of service, but exceptions can be made if the applicant possesses skills or experiences valuable for the units. After a series of physical and psychological tests successful applicants progress to a final week long field exercise, commonly known as "hell week". Applicants who successfully complete "hell week" then progress to 6 months of training before claiming an operational slot with their unit. The selection and training process has an attrition rate of roughly 90%.

Gear

The main weapons of the RRTFs are the

Heckler & Koch Heckler & Koch GmbH (HK; ) is a German defense manufacturing company that manufactures handguns, rifles, submachine guns, and grenade launchers. The company is located in Oberndorf am Neckar in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and also ...

MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...

and Heckler & Koch

G36C The Heckler & Koch G36 (Gewehr 36) is a 5.56×45mm assault rifle designed in the early 1990s by German weapons manufacturer Heckler & Koch as a replacement for the heavier 7.62×51mm G3 battle rifle. It was accepted into service with the ''Bu ...

, the latter having since been replaced by the

LWRC M6 The M6 is a series of carbines designed and manufactured by LWRC International. It is based on the M4 carbine, with which it shares 80% of its parts. The 'M' model name is not a US military designation. Like the HK416, it features a proprietar ...

. The issued sidearm is the standard police issue SIG Sauer 226. The RRTFs did have sniper rifles on trial but the project was scrapped as the usage of both sniper rifles and EMOE (explosive breaching) was limited to the

counter-terrorism 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 el ...

unit of the Swedish police, the National Task Force. As of late 2018,

LWRC REPR LWRC R.E.P.R. MKII (Rapid Engagement Precision Rifle) is a semi-automatic rifle manufactured by LWRC International. It is chambered in either 7.62×51mm NATO or 6.5mm Creedmoor. Design details The rifle is built on the AR-10 platform which ...

rifles in 7.62 had been issued to the RRTFs, effectively reintroducing the

sniper A sniper is a military/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 high-precision r ...

capability at the units. All operators are equipped with ballistic Ops Core helmets, plate carriers and flame retardant clothing. Both the NTF and RRTF's were equipped with Sandcats these vehicles have since been transferred to the Police EOD.

Similar units

* –

National Task Force The National Task Force ( sv, Nationella insatsstyrkan, ''NI''), formerly known as the National Task Force of the Swedish Civilian Police ( sv, Ordningspolisens nationella insatsstyrka), is a police tactical unit within the National Operations Dep ...

* – SEK * –

RAID Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to: Attack * Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground * Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business * Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college ...

* –

FBI SWAT FBI Special Weapons and Tactics Teams are specialized part-time police tactical units (SWAT) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI maintains SWAT teams at each of its 56 field offices throughout the United States. Each team is c ...

Footnotes

Notes and references

* * * {{cite web, title=Piketen, url=https://polisen.se/Stockholms_lan/Om-polisen/Specialkompetenser/Piketen/, publisher= Swedish Police Authority, accessdate=4 August 2015, language=Swedish

External links

Efterlyst Special: Piketen
May–June, 2013 on TV3; 2x40 min. Swedish-language documentary series about the unit.