''Brigada Specială de Intervenție a Jandarmeriei'' (Gendarmerie Special Intervention Brigade, BSIJ) is a police tactical unit of the

Romanian Gendarmerie The ''Jandarmeria Română'' () is the national Gendarmerie force of Romania, tasked with high-risk and specialized law enforcement duties. It is one of the two main police forces in Romania (the other being the Romanian Police - a civilian fo ...

that specialized in anti-

irregular military Irregular military is any military component distinct from a country's regular armed forces, representing non-standard militant elements outside of conventional governmental backing. Irregular elements can consist of militias, private armie ...

, apprehension of armed and dangerous criminals, counterterrorism and hostage rescue crisis management, ensuring public order, fighting organized crime, operating in difficult to access terrain, search and rescue efforts for disaster victims, and tactical special operations. The unit carries the name "Vlad Țepeș" after the

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

n ruler,

Vlad the Impaler Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler ( ) or Vlad Dracula (; ; 1428/31 – 1476/77), was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most important rulers in Wallachian hi ...

History

After the fall of the communist regime in December 1989, two units were created by the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

with the task of ensuring public order. One was subordinated to the

Romanian Police The Romanian Police (, , ) is the national police force and main civil law enforcement agency in Romania. It is subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and it is led by a General Inspector with the rank of Secretary of State. Duties T ...

, while the other was subordinated to the

. Following the events of 1999, the Gendarmerie Special Intervention Brigade (''Brigada Specială de Intervenție a Jandarmeriei'' - BSIJ) was formed through the Government Decision no. 77/1999 by transferring the Public Order and Peace Assurance Brigade of the Romanian Police to the Gendarmerie. The BSIJ officially received the honorary name "Vlad Țepeș" in 2001, and in 2002 it merged with the 11th Mobile Gendarmerie Brigade under the name "Special Intervention Brigade "Vlad Țepeș" of the Gendarmerie" (''Brigada Specială de Intervenție "Vlad Țepeș" a Jandarmeriei''). Since 2011, the Brigade is part of the

ATLAS Network Atlas Network, formerly known as Atlas Economic Research Foundation, is a non-governmental, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States that provides training, networking, and grants for libertarian, free-market, and Conserva ...

of police tactical units of 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 Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. The unit received its battle flag on 11 February 2014.

Role

In 2005, the BSIJ became the specialized

military structure Military organization (American English , AE) or military organisation (British English , BE) is the structuring of the armed forces of a State (polity), state so as to offer such military capability as a military policy, national defense pol ...

of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the role of

combating 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 comb ...

and crime, ensuring public order, and fulfilling international missions following the commitments assumed by the state. The Brigade has various specialized personnel including divers,

paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

s, and

pyrotechnician Pyrotechnicians are people who are responsible for the safe storage, handling, and functioning of pyrotechnics and pyrotechnic devices. Although the term is generally used in reference to individuals who operate pyrotechnics in the entertainment ...

s. The BSIJ acts in cooperation with all other structures of the Romanian Ministries in order to combat organized crime networks for

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...

, and

cybercrime Cybercrime encompasses a wide range of criminal activities that are carried out using digital devices and/or Computer network, networks. It has been variously defined as "a crime committed on a computer network, especially the Internet"; Cyberc ...

. It also has the task of implementing the

warrants Warrant may refer to: * Warrant (law), a form of specific authorization ** Arrest warrant, authorizing the arrest and detention of an individual ** Search warrant, a court order issued that authorizes law enforcement to conduct a search for eviden ...

issued by judicial bodies. At the request of the

Romanian Intelligence Service The Romanian Intelligence Service (, abbreviated SRI) is Romania's main domestic intelligence service. Its role is to gather information relevant to national security and hand it over to relevant institutions, such as Romanian Government, presid ...

, the BSIJ can act to protect official delegations, and some high Romanian or foreign dignitaries while they are on the territory of the country. The unit can also intervene in rescue operations in case of natural disasters such as floods or heavy snowfalls. To accomplish its missions, the BSIJ often cooperates with the General Inspectorate of Aviation.

Organization

The Brigade is divided into four units: * ''COMANDAMENT'' (COMMAND) - The structure that ensures the organization, command, control, and coordination of the fulfillment of the attributions that fall within the competence of the Special Intervention Brigade of the Gendarmerie. It consists of the General Staff as a flexible, dynamic, and mobile structure designed for the integrated operational coordination in the field of forces and logistical financial support structures to ensure the material, technical and financial support of the operational structures. * ''Batalionul 1 Jandarmi Special Intervenție Antiteroristă, Acțiuni Speciale și Protecție'' (1st Gendarmes Battalion Special Counterterrorism Intervention, Special Actions, and Protection) - It is the operative structure within the Special Gendarmerie Intervention Brigade consisting of specialized military personnel, with special physical, psychological and technical skills, trained, to the highest standards, to intervene in a timely and effective manner in any environment (land, air, water) for fulfilling specific missions with a high degree of risk (counterterrorism intervention, special actions, preventing and combating acts of terrorism). * ''Batalionul 2 Jandarmi Special Intervenție'' (2nd Gendarmes Battalion Special Intervention) - It is the operative structure of the Special Gendarmerie Intervention Brigade specialized in crisis management in the field of public order, ensuring public order and peace during the visits of official delegations and dignitaries, Romanians and foreigners, ensuring public order and peace during public events with high risk, in which the large public participates, the rescue-evacuation of persons, the intervention for the restoration of public order in case it has been seriously disturbed and

riot police Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots. Riot police may be regular police officers who act in the role of riot police in particular situations, or they may be separate unit ...

. *''Batalionul 3 Jandarmi Special de Intervenție, Acțiuni Speciale și Protecție'' (3rd Battalion Special Intervention, Special Actions, and Protection Gendarmes) - As a result of the high dynamics of the missions entrusted to the Special Brigade, the need arose for a structural projection that would meet the operational needs. In this context, in 2019, the 3rd Special Gendarmes Battalion for Intervention, Special Actions, and Protection was created. The selection of specialists for the 3rd Battalion Special Gendarmes for Intervention, Special Actions, and Protection is a very rigorous one and includes elements that can test the upper limits of the fighters, from a physical and mental point of view. The fighters' further training is focused on the execution of the main categories of missions and specialization in the

pyrotechnic Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating fireworks, but also includes safety matches, oxygen candles, explosive bolts (and other fasteners), parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, quarrying, and demol ...

and

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 ...

fields, specific to the unit. Battalion 3 fighters are trained to act punctually, in small teams, with a high level of operational autonomy, in missions with a high degree of complexity. The equipment and armament of the 3rd Battalion are adapted to the missions performed and are meant to confer a highly flexible response capacity.

Equipment

The Special Intervention Brigade is equipped with the following:

Firearms

Armored Vehicles

References

External links

* *
Unofficial website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brigada Speciala de Interventie a Jandarmeriei ATLAS Network Gendarmerie (Romania) Police tactical units Special forces of Romania Gendarmerie brigades