The term "snatch squad" refers to two tactics used by

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 ...

riot control Riot control measures are used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful demonstration or unlawful protest. If a riot is spontaneous and irratio ...

and crowd control.

In riot control

The snatch squad in riot control involves several

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

s, usually wearing protective riot gear, rushing forwards—occasionally in a

flying wedge A flying wedge (also called flying V or wedge formation, or simply wedge) is a configuration created from a body moving forward in a triangular formation. This V-shaped arrangement began as a successful military strategy in ancient times when inf ...

formation—to break through the front of a crowd, with the objective of snatching one or more individuals from a riot that are attempting to control the demonstration at which they are present. The target may be a leader or a speaker, or someone who seems to be leading the crowd. In one British form of the tactic, three or four officers rush at a group of violent or disorderly people, with two of the officers carrying batons and the others a

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of ...

. The officer with the shield rushes the most violent in the group and forces the subject between the shield and a fixed object, while the other officers either arrest the others or escort them out of the crowds.

Plainclothes snatch squads

A snatch squad may also refer to plainclothes police officers apprehending individuals, often in a looting situation. Often the plainclothes police officers will mingle with crowds intent on causing trouble and appear to be a bystander. The undercover officers can arrest any individual attempting to break or loot a store, often in an isolated scenario with few crowds as not to provoke an attack on the officers. Snatch squads are also employed against violent fugitives when they are otherwise likely to barricade themselves or use force in a search warrant setting.

Images

Police snatch squad
who have grabbed a photographer and dragged him over the railings,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, 20 June 2002
German police snatch squad
ready for action (6th image on page)

References

Riot control Crowd control {{Law-enforcement-stub