 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Police armored vehicle" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Apolice armored vehicle, also referred to as apolice rescue vehicle,armored rescue vehicle,[1]tactical police vehicle, orSWAT vehicle, is anon-military armored vehicle used bypolice, primarilypolice tactical units andriot police, to respond to incidents that necessitate their use. They are most often in configurations similar tomilitary light utility vehicles,infantry mobility vehicles, orarmoured personnel carriers. They are generally designed to have armor that can sufficiently block high-caliber rounds, space to carry the unit's equipment, and sufficient passenger seating; some also allow for additional personnel to hang onto the side of the vehicle in transit.
A police armored vehicle may simply be an unarmoredvan,truck, orSUV used to transport equipment or officers or used as a command post. Other more specialized vehicles may be demilitarized (i.e. stripped of heavy weaponry)armored personnel carriers orMRAPs acquired asmilitary surplus or designed specifically as police vehicles to allow officers to operate in situations where armed confrontation is likely. Specialized heavy-duty commercial vehicles can be up-fitted and built solely as police armored vehicles, such as theLenco BearCat, which is built on aFord F-Series chassis.Ambulances andarmored cars can also be converted into police armored vehicles, though this is less common.
In China, one of the most widely used tactical vehicles used by the police is the "Saber tooth tiger". It is based on the Ford F-550 and, according to its manufacturer, can withstandM16 andAK-47 rounds, has multiple gun ports, a top speed of 130km/h, a maximum occupancy of 10 personnel and a cost of 2 million yuan (US$298,830).[2]
Among other armoured vehicles, theNational PoliceRAID andSearch and Intervention Brigade are equipped with different armoured vans such as thePanhard PVP, formerarmored cars,[3] andinfantry mobility vehicles such as theNexter Titus.[4]
.jpg)
Armoured police vehicles were first introduced afterWorld War I byGermanpolice forces, who had more than hundred armoured vehicles calledSonderwagen (German for special automobile). Nowadays theFederal Police and thestate police forces still maintain armoured vans, likeSonderwagen 4 andSonderwagen 5. The federal police recently[when?] also ordered theLAPV Enok in addition to itsMowag Eagle andATF Dingo. TheSEK special state police units use armored vehicles like theLAPV Enok and theSurvivor R.[5][6][7]
Riot Police Units have been operating some series ofArmoured buses (警備車,Keibi-sha), mainly used as mobile shelters and barriers.[8] More heavily armored vehicles called Special Armored Vehicles (特型警備車,Tokugata-keibi-sha) were introduced in the 1960s. The first deployed model was called Type F-3, based onMitsubishi's cab-after-enginetrucks.[9] They were initially treated as idlers because there are only few reports ofgun violence in Japan, but they were highly appreciated during theAsama-Sansō incident in 1972 and their significance were widely recognized.[9]
After several model changes, Type PV-2 based on theMitsubishi Fuso Canter is now deployed nationwide, mainly foranti-firearms squads.[9] There are also simplified versions called SpecialArmored Vans (特型遊撃車,Tokugata-yūgeki-sha) and much larger Heavy Special Armored Vehicles (銃器対策警備車,Jūki-taisaku-keibi-sha); the latter is dedicated to theSpecial Assault Teams.[9]
TheNew Zealand Police uses a small fleet of unmarked and armouredToyota Land Cruisers for matters of nation security or high-risk firearm incidents. The vehicles known as Armoured Special Purpose Vehicles are both bullet and blast resistant designed to blend into normal traffic. Based inAuckland,Wellington andChristchurch the Land Cruisers are used by theArmed Offenders Squad (AOS) andSpecial Tactics Group (STG) for operations and incidents across the country. The New Zealand Police have operated vehicles similar since the early 2000, but these Land Cruisers which became operational in 2019 are the first specialist vehicles to be armoured.[10][11][12] In 2024 theNew Zealand Government invested over $250 million [NZD] into police equipment including 55 new specialist vehicles, although the exact number is unknown a small number of these will be Armoured Special Purpose Vehicles.[13][14]
_(cropped).jpg)
Police in the United Kingdom, particularly thePolice Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), has a great number of police role armoured vehicles based upon a range of base platforms including theLand Rover Defender and theOVIK Crossway. The internal security situation in Northern Ireland demands that the police operate up to 450 armoured vehicles which are optimised for public order duties. The PSNI uses OVIK Pangolin armoured public order vehicles. UK Police are seeing upgrades within their fleet across the different forces, with West Yorkshire Police acquiring two Lenco Bearcats, popular with United States Law Enforcement agencies.
SWAT units may employ police armored vehicles for insertion, maneuvering, or during tactical operations such as the rescue of civilians, officers, firefighters, and/or military personnel pinned down by gunfire. To avoid detection by suspects during insertion in urban environments, SWAT units may also use modified buses, vans, trucks, or other seemingly normal vehicles. During the 1997North Hollywood shootout,LAPD SWAT commandeered an armored cash-delivery truck, which they used to extract wounded civilians and officers from the raging firefight with the heavily armed bank robbers.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)