Reinforced Regional Task Force

Förstärkt Regional Insatsstyrka
Active 1979–present
Country  Sweden
Branch Swedish Police Authority
Type SWAT
Role Hostage rescue
High-risk arrests
Riot control
Size ~200 operators
Garrison/HQ Stockholm
Gothenburg
Malmö

Förstärkt Regional Insatsstyrka (English: Reinforced Regional Task Force),[1] prior to 2015 officially known as Piketen (or Piketenheten)[note 1] is a special operations asset of the Swedish Police Authority, similar to the SWAT in the United States. RRTF:s is called upon when situations occur that are too dangerous for ordinary police to handle such as hostage situations, serving high-risk arrest warrants and confronting armed criminals.

History

The main task of the RRTF is dangerous situations in dangerous environments, e.g. hostage situations and situations including armed dangerous suspects.[2] Other tasks 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.[2] Its creation was an answer to the events of the Norrmalmstorg robbery in 1973,[2] where robber Jan-Erik "Janne" Olsson took four hostages at Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg ("Norrmalm's Square") in Stockholm.

RRTF operators from Malmö and Gothenburg 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.[3]

In 2011, the RRTF officially opened up for any female officers who wish to serve in the unit though none have passed selection yet.[4]

Due to the major reorganization efforts of 2015, Piketen was reclassified as "Förstärkt Regional Insatsstyrka", or in English, "Reinforced Regional Task Force", RRTF.

RRTF Stockholm operators.
RRTF South operators breaching a door during training.

Organization

RRTF West operators providing security for interior minister Anders Ygeman in Gothenburg.

The RRTF:s are stationed in the three largest cities of Sweden: Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, responsible for Police regions Stockholm, West and South. However the units can at request be put to use nationwide all over Sweden. Smaller forces with tactical training and tasks somewhat akin to the RRTF:s are available in police regions Bergslagen, Middle, East and North, often times having similar selection and training. Officers in these units normally don't operate in the intervention capacity full time, but do normal patrolling on a daily basis.

Training

The RRTF:s spends about 30% of its 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 unit strives to resolve any given situation as calmly as possible to avoid injury or loss of life[2] 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 or special assault vehicles.

The units officers are well-trained in different methods of entry (MOE), such as rappelling and door breaching. They also receive training in close target reconnaissance, close quarters battle, basic medical care, tactical self-defense, and various weapon systems.

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

A Sandcat used by Piketen.

The main weapons of Piketen are the Heckler & Koch MP5, the Heckler & Koch G36C in RRTF South and Stockholm[5] and the LWRC M6 in RRTF West.[6] The issued sidearm is the standard police issue SIG Sauer 226. The RRTF:s did have sniper rifles on trial but the project was scrapped and the usage of sniper rifles was limited to the counter-terrorism unit of the Swedish police, the National Task Force. All operators are equipped with ballistic Ops Core helmets, plate carriers and special flame retardant clothing.

They are also equipped with Sandcats used to transport its officers.[7]

Similar units

Footnotes

  1. ↑ From Swedish piket (borrowed from French: piquet) meaning "task force", and enheten meaning "the unit", i.e. Piketen = The Task Force, Piketenheten = The Task Force Unit.

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Helander, Magnus (19 November 2015). "Polisen vässar insatsstyrkor". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Piketen". www.polisen.se (in Swedish). Polisen (Swedish Police Authority). Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  3. ↑ Hjort, Anna (2013-09-05). "Känsligt uppdrag i Kosovo". Polistidningen (in Swedish). Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  4. ↑ "Piketenheten först med kvinnliga poliser". P4 Stockholm (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  5. ↑ http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/04/21/lwrci-swedish-police/
  6. ↑ "LWRC IC-A5s Now in Use by Swedish LE - The Firearm Blog". The Firearm Blog. 2017-04-12. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  7. ↑ Stenberg, Göran (4 May 2013). "En vanlig dag på jobbet". Helsingborgs Dagblad (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 April 2017.
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