The National Task Force , formerly known as the National Task Force of the Swedish Civilian Police , is a paramilitary tactical unit within the National Criminal Investigation Department of the Swedish Police Service

Swedish Police Service

The Swedish Police Service is a collection of Government agencies concerned with police matters in Sweden. The Swedish Police Service consists of 28,500 employees of which 39 per cent are women. The staff consists of 20,000 police officers of which 25 per cent are women and 8,500 civilian staff of...

. It is meant to handle extraordinarily difficult or life-threatening criminal situations, such as terrorism

Terrorism

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

, hostage situations, armed kidnapping

Kidnapping

In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...

 and serving high risk arrest warrants in cities too remote for the SWAT-units in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö to handle. It also deals with emergency rescue situations that would be too dangerous for other teams to handle. NI's missions are identical to those of Germany's GSG 9

GSG 9

The GSG 9 der Bundespolizei , is the elite counter-terrorism and special operations unit of the German Federal Police.-History and name:...

, French GIGN

Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale

The National Gendarmerie Intervention Group, commonly abbreviated GIGN , is a special operations unit of the French Armed Forces. It is part of the National Gendarmerie and is trained to perform counter-terrorist and hostage rescue missions in France or anywhere else in the world.The GIGN was...

 and the FBI HRT

Hostage Rescue Team

The FBI Hostage Rescue Team is the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation's counter-terrorism paramilitary tactical team. The HRT is trained to rescue U.S. citizens and allies who are held by a hostile force, either terrorist or criminal...

 in the United States. In 2006, NI-officers were deployed to Lebanon to help evacuate Swedish citizens during the war between Hezbollah and Israel. NI officers have also been deployed with Special Team Six in Kosovo.

Organization

NI has one head of the unit (currently Marie Jarnérus) with a number of subordinated coordinators, and a staff of older, distinguished police officers. Under this management group the force is divided into 8 groups:

• Alpha
• Bravo
• Charlie
• Delta
• Echo
• Fox (sniper
  Sniper
  A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
  
  s)
• Golf (snipers)
• Hotel (divers
  Scuba diving
  Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
  
  )

Selection

To be eligible for NI, the applicant is required to have at least 2 years of distinguished service in the police, a clean criminal record, and be able to pass a series of tests:

• Physical stamina
• Marksmanship
• Non-predisposition
  Predisposition
  Predisposition may refer to:* Genetic predisposition, a genetic effect which can identify individuals who may be predisposed to certain health problems* Predispositioning Theory, mathematical term in the field of decision theory...
  
   for several types of phobia
  Phobia
  A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational...
  
  s, such as fear of cramped spaces, heights or water
• Psychological fitness
• Deep interview
• 10 days in the field

Service

Members of the NI work full time in the force. They used to work two weeks and then have 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. Part of their training is done with the Swedish armed forces. Several of the members are former members of elite military units, and the Nationella Insatsstyrkan is described by some as a para-military unit within the Swedish police force.

Armament

NI has access to a wide variety of weapons including submachine guns (MP5), assault rifles (G36

Heckler & Koch G36

The Heckler & Koch G36 is a 5.56×45mm assault rifle, designed in the early 1990s by Heckler & Koch in Germany as a replacement for the 7.62mm G3 battle rifle. It was accepted into service with the Bundeswehr in 1997, replacing the G3...

, AK5) and shotguns. In addition, all operators use the SIG Sauer P 226 pistol as sidearm, which is the standard sidearm used by all Swedish police officers. Snipers are equipped with the L96A1 AW sniper rifle (Swedish military designation: PSG90). The special equipment of Nationella Insatsstyrkan is significantly different from that of the ordinary police. Their equipment, such as communication radios suitable for diving and special ceramic bullet resistant vests

Bulletproof vest

A ballistic vest, bulletproof vest or bullet-resistant vest is an item of personal armor that helps absorb the impact from firearm-fired projectiles and shrapnel from explosions, and is worn on the torso...

, is specific to the situations they would be called upon for. They also distinguish themselves from other Swedish police by a wide variety of uniforms, including woodland camouflage.

External links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpF2peub7es
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article225302.ab