| Search, Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence | |
|---|---|
| Recherche, Assistance, Intervention, Dissuasion (French) | |
.svg) Logo of RAID | |
| Active | 1985 – present |
| Country |  France |
| Agency | National Police |
| Type | Police tactical unit |
| Role | Law enforcement Counter-terrorism Hostage rescue Close protection |
| Headquarters | Bièvres, Essonne |
| Motto | "Servir sans faillir" "To serve without failing" |
| Abbreviation | RAID |
| Structure | |
| Operators | Approx. 450[1] |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Guillaume Cardy[2] |
| Notable commanders | |
| Notables | |
| Significant operation(s) | |
Recherche, Assistance, Intervention, Dissuasion ("Search, Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence"), commonly abbreviatedRAID (/reɪd/; French:[ʁɛd]ⓘ), is an elitetactical unit of the FrenchNational Police. Founded in 1985, it is headquartered inBièvres, Essonne, approximately 20 kilometres (12 miles) southwest of Paris.[3] RAID is the National Police counterpart of the National Gendarmerie'sGIGN. Both units share responsibility for the French territory.[note 1]
Since 2009, RAID and the ParisSearch and Intervention Brigade (BRI), a separate National Police unit reporting directly into theParis Police Prefecture (French:Préfecture de police de Paris),[note 2] have formed a task force calledNational Police Intervention Force (French:Force d'intervention de la Police nationale) or FIPN. When activated, the task force is headed by the RAID commander. Thirteen regional units of the National Police, previously known asNational Police Intervention Groups (GIPNs), have been created or permanently integrated into RAID and re-designated as "RAID branches" (French:antennes RAID) between 2015 and 2019.[note 3]
Among the main missions of RAID are:[4]
RAID reports to the director general of the National Police (DGPN), himself a direct report of the minister of the interior.
Before the creation of RAID, the National Police did not have a national unit comparable to the Gendarmerie's GIGN and relied instead on regional units: BRI in Paris and the GIPNs in the provinces.Minister of the InteriorPierre Joxe was the key decision maker who authorized the creation of the unit.[5][note 4] RAID was founded by then-commissairesRobert Broussard andAnge Mancini in 1985. Broussard, one of the best known Police commissaires at the time, was one of the advisers who pushed the project. Mancini was chosen to be the unit's first commander.[5] RAID's first mission - a hostage situation in a Nantes tribunal, took place soon afterwards in December 1985.[6]
In 1987 RAID arrested the leaders of the terrorist groupAction Directe in theirVitry-aux-Loges hideout.[6] In May 1993, RAID solved a delicate hostage situation when a man named Erick Schmitt, calling himself "HB" (for "Human Bomb", in English), and carrying large quantities of explosives, took 21 hostages in aNeuilly-sur-Seine nursery school.[7] The hostage taker was finally shot and the children were recovered safely, together with their teacher and a nurse. In 1996, inRoubaix, the unit neutralized theGang de Roubaix, a 14-member terrorist group tied to theArmed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA), suspected of several bank robberies, murders, and a failed attack against theGroup of Seven (G7) meeting inLille. The assault was very violent and resulted in the death of four terrorists. Two RAID operatives were also injured, one by a grenade blast, the other hit by a bullet in a lung.[6]Christophe Caze, the head of the group, escaped the burning building, but was killed at a Belgian checkpoint during a gunfight with Customs agents. Several days later, thanks to an electronic device found on Caze's body,Fateh Kamel, head of a terrorist cell in Montreal, was arrested inJordan and tried in France.
RAID operators saw action during the2005 and 2006 riots in France, as well as in a hostage situation inVersailles, where an armed man was shot dead by RAID operators after coming under attack. On 21 and 22 March 2012, RAID was tasked to arrest Mohammed Merah, the main suspect forshooting sprees in Toulouse and Montauban. RAID surrounded the flat where Merah was entrenched. After 30 hours of siege, RAID stormed the flat to apprehend Merah who fought back. After a four-minute shoot out, Merah was shot by a RAID sniper while exiting the building.[8]
On 9 January 2015 RAID, together withBRI, a unit of the Paris Metropolitan Police, ended thehostage situation at the kosher supermarketHypercacher on the third day of theJanuary 2015 Paris terrorist attacks.[9] On 14 November 2015 RAID, again with the Paris BRI, took part in operations at theBataclan theatre, where 90 people were killed during a series ofbombings, shootings and hostage taking in Paris on 13 – 14 November. On 18 November RAID undertook a follow-upoperation in Saint-Denis seekingAbdelhamid Abaaoud, the 'mastermind' of the attacks, who was killed.[10]
RAID also provides close protection for foreign dignitaries traveling inFrance. During special events, RAID is also in charge of protecting French individuals abroad (For example, the French Delegation during theOlympic Games is under RAID protection during the whole event).
Three RAID officers have been killed in action: two inRis-Orangis (near Paris) in 1989 and one in Corsica in 1996.[11]
The following books and articles are in French.
