Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1407740
A fter fall of communism, in 1990 Polish Police was formed and the so-called Wydzial Zabezpieczenia (Se- curity Department) of Warsaw MO (Milicja Obywatelska, Citizen's Militia, the official name of Polish People's Republic police) was renamed to Wydzial Antyterrorystyczny (WA, An- ti-Terror Department). In 2003 it was transferred from Warsaw Police to Polish Police HQ recently formed CBS (Centralne Bi- uro Śledcze, Central Bureau of Investigation) and became the bedrock for BOA KGP – the Tier 1 Polish Police hostage rescue unit. For next dozen months, the Warsaw Police didn't have any SWAT-type assets but on 1st January 2005 the WR KSP (Execu- tive Department of Warsaw Police) was activated. The WR KSP was formed from the disbanded Chopin Airport Police SWAT team, some members of WA and officers from IV Section of Automotive Criminal Department of Warsaw Police (so-called Gepard part-time tactical team). Another part was EOD Section transferred from Criminal Terror Department. In 2017, the unit was renamed to SPAP and was directly subordinated to Chief of Warsaw Police. In meantime, the Police HQ decided to unify the structures nationally and to make the SWAT units essentially equal to other branches such as Criminal Branch, Investigation Branch or Internal Affairs. Finally, in April 2019, SPAP teams were officially disbanded and became SPKP under the Regional Chief of Police, except the BOA (now CPKP BOA) which is directly under the Chief of Polish Police. According to Police Act, the counter-terrorism operations are defined as follows: "actions against perpetrators, persons pre- paring for or assisting in committing a terrorist crime, [...] car- ried out in order to eliminate an immediate threat to the life, health or freedom of persons or property using specialized forc- es and means as well as specialized tactics". The Police Act The Samodzielny Pododdział Kontrterrorystyczny Policji w Warszawie (SPKP, Independent Counter Terrorist Police Unit of Warsaw), Polish capital city Police SWAT unit was officially activated in April 2019 when the Polish Police Act was introduced. But the history of the Warsaw Police counter-terrorist unit is longer and its roots can be found in the 1970s. 75 www.fragoutmag.com SPECIAL FORCES