Special Tactics Group - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Special Tactics Group (STG), formerly known as the Anti-Terrorist Squad, is the full-time tactical and counter-terrorism

Counter-terrorism

Counter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...

group of the New Zealand Police

New Zealand Police

The New Zealand Police is the national police force of New Zealand, responsible for enforcing criminal law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the peace throughout New Zealand...

.

The STG is civilian-police SWAT

SWAT

A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...

-type unit established to respond to high-risk situations which are beyond the scope or capacity of everyday policing. STG officers directly support operational police in incidents, such as sieges, with specialist tactical, negotiation, intelligence and command support services.

History

The Anti-Terrorist Squad was a part-time unit raised in the 1960s to deal with high risk situations involving armed offenders and possible terrorism related events. Commissioner of Police

Commissioner of Police (New Zealand)

The Commissioner of Police is the head of the New Zealand Police. The Commissioner is appointed for a three-year term by the Governor-General, and reports to the Minister of Police. The position combines two functions, that of chief constable in charge of policing and cases, and chief executive...

John Jamieson sent the group in response to the Aramoana massacre

Aramoana massacre

The Aramoana massacre was a mass murder that occurred on 13 November 1990 in the small seaside township of Aramoana, New Zealand. Resident David Gray, a 33-year-old unemployed man, began indiscriminately shooting people in the township with a scoped semi-automatic rifle, after a verbal dispute with...

in 1990. They located gunman David Gray and ended his spree. Group member Stephen Vaughan was shot in the ankle during the final shoot-out.

The squad was renamed the Special Tactics Group in early 1990/1991, and became a full-time group in 2002 due to changes made by the New Zealand Police in response to worldwide terrorism-related events. The STG was involved in the 2009 Napier shootings

2009 Napier shootings

Jan Molenaar, 51, was born of Ngāti Kahungunu extraction grew up in Napier where he went to Nelson Park Primary School, Napier Intermediate School and William Colenso College. In the 1980s he spent six years in the territorial armoured corps of the Hawke's Bay and Wellington Regiment...

alongside their colleagues in the Armed Offenders Squad

Armed Offenders Squad

The Armed Offenders Squad is a specialist unit of the New Zealand Police designed to "cordon, contain and appeal to" armed and dangerous offenders. As the name explains, they are called upon when conflict with an armed offender has occurred or is considered imminent.The AOS draw upon a varied...

Role

The STG deals with armed incidents that are beyond the capability of the part-time Armed Offenders Squad, of which they are also members. While the Armed Offenders Squad is trained to cordon or contain high risk situations such as sieges, the Special Tactics Group is trained to resolve them. The group also provides specialist protection to high risk persons and VIPs

Very Important Person

A Very Important Person, or VIP is a person who is accorded special privileges due to his or her status or importance.Examples include celebrities, heads of state/heads of government, major employers, high rollers, politicians, high-level corporate officers, wealthy individuals, or any other...

. The STG is supported during its operations by the Armed Offenders Squad, negotiation teams and canine units trained for use in situations involving firearms.

The group is known to train with New Zealand Special Air Service Commandos, of which little public information is released.

The STG has provided specialist armed officers for overseas operations such as the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands

Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands

The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands , also known as Operation Helpem Fren, was created in 2003 in response to a request for international aid by the Governor-General of the Solomon Islands...

(RAMSI), working alongside officers from the Australian Federal Police

Australian Federal Police

The Australian Federal Police is the federal police agency of the Commonwealth of Australia. Although the AFP was created by the amalgamation in 1979 of three Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, it traces its history from Commonwealth law enforcement agencies dating back to the federation of...

. Along with Police Tactical Group

Police Tactical Group

Police tactical groups , formerly known as "police assault groups", are part of the Australian government's National Anti-Terrorism Plan which, since 1978, has required each state and territory police force to maintain a specialised counter-terrorist and hostage rescue unit jointly funded by the...

s from across Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

it provided several officers on secondment to the NSW Police Force Tactical Operations Unit

State Protection Group

The State Protection Group is part of the Specialist Operations division of the New South Wales Police Force, having been established in 1991 to deal with extraordinary policing responses. The SPG directly supports police in high-risk incidents such as sieges with specialised tactical,...

to assist with security operations during the Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

APEC meeting in 2007. STG have been part of all major security operations in New Zealand including the 1990 Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....

, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1995

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1995

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1991 was the fourteenth Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 10 November 1995 and 13 November 1995, and was hosted by that country's Prime Minister, Jim Bolger.The Millbrook...

, APEC meetings, royal and VIP tours.

Principal roles

Protecting endangered witnesses
Resolving siege and hostage situations, as well as armed offender situations
Providing a negotiation service in high risk and critical situations
Undertaking searches of premises in high risk situations
Collecting tactical information on criminal activities
The arrest of armed and dangerous offenders
Escorting and securing dangerous prisoners in high risk situations
Providing support services for major operations
Escorting and protecting VIPs and other at risk or important persons

The STG also provides specialist assistance in performing tasks which are beyond the scope of operational police. Some of these tasks may require specialist equipment or expertise in certain areas.

History

Role

Principal roles

See also