Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1150145
explosive devices. At present, the Polish Police has 18 CT units – the central di- rectly subordinate to the Police Chief, and 17 CT units at each provincial head- quarters and in the structure of the Warsaw Capitol Police HQ. These units differ substantially in terms of headcount, which stems from their background; but their current formal status is the same. The potential – looking at least at sheer numbers – is therefore significant. And it is increased even further on account of the fact that these are units organized in two tiers, i.e. locally and centrally, which addresses two important issues. First, the police special forces remain pres- ent across the entire country, which shortens the reaction time. Second, if the reform will be applied, during count- er-terror operation, the BOA commander will be in charge of operations carried out by the forces of all CT units. It means that it possible to take advantage of the existing potential in a flexible way, con- centrating forces of several CT units in one location by means of a single decision. This makes it possible to compensate for the said staffing differences. Moreover, it is warranted by law whereby the BOA commander appoints a CT police officer to be in charge of the said unit. This is where some of you may ask the following question: what about all the many other special units? According to the legislation, use of deadly force is re- served for Police, Border Guard, ABW, and soldiers, and it is a very significant restriction – special use of firearms may not be granted to e.g. State Protection Service (SOP, equivalent of US Secret Service) or Prison Service (SW) offi- cers. While it is obvious to expect ABW becoming involved in CT operations, the situation gets complicated in the case of other units. The special units of the Border Guard may be engaged only within the scope of their material and territorial com- petence, meaning mainly in the border zone and in the area of border crossings. Pursuant to a decision of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Board Guard officers may also assist in the Police operations. The units of the Polish Armed Forces, including Special Forces or Military Police, may be engaged to this end. In the case of Special Forces, the princi- ples governing their use of firearms are further extended since the only principle governing the use of firearms then is that of adequacy to the threat. In order to use military units, a decision at the government level is required. Plus, it may be made only in a situation when the forces and resources of the police may appear to be insufficient. Moreover, except for events taking place on the premises of military facilities, all such operations are always managed by a po- lice officer. As you can tell, the police is still the 'core' of operations, supported by other types of forces when necessary. But it doesn't mean that the adopted solutions are fully adequate to the exist- ing needs. Those familiar with the arti- cle from our previous issue may be well aware that the terrorist attacks of today are launched most often with the use of simple – even primitive – measures, and in a decentralized manner. They are usually highly dynamic, which leaves not much time to react accordingly. Attacks arranged by larger, better organized and better prepared groups, come only sec- ond on the list. ANALISE