Police Rapid Response Unit (Finland)

The Police Rapid Response Unit (poliisin valmiusyksikkö; polisens beredskapsenheten) is a national tactical and counter-terrorism unit of the Police of Finland situated at the Helsinki Police Department. It is commonly known with the nickname Bear Squad (Karhu-ryhmä; Karhu-gruppen).

Function
The Police Rapid Response Unit was formed as a national police tactical unit in the spring of 1972 unit after the Munich massacre to provide security for the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, held in Helsinki in 1975. According to Finnish law, all counter-terrorist operations are within the jurisdiction of the Police or the Finnish Border Guard. In addition to operative units, the group includes sniper, technical support, police dog, and bomb disposal teams. It can be reinforced with a negotiation team during hostage situations. The Response Unit operates under the authority of the Helsinki Police Department and, in turn, the National Police Board and the Ministry of the Interior. Team members are selected from currently serving law enforcement personnel and undergo a training of one year, followed by a continuous on-the-job training programme. They alternate between normal field work, training and special operations duties: Training takes approximately half and special operations $1/10$ of their time while the rest consists of regular duties. The team had a strength of around 60 officers and 4 police dogs in 2011.