Garda Emergency Response Unit

The Emergency Response Unit (ERU) (Irish: Aonad Práinnfhreagartha) is the police tactical unit of the Garda Síochána, Ireland's national police and security service. The unit was a section of the forces' Special Detective Unit (SDU), under the Crime and Security Branch (CSB) until 2017, when the Special Tactics and Operational Command was created to take over its operational duties alongside Armed Support Units.
The Garda ERU provides the highest tier of firearms response to Irish law enforcement, specialising in weapons tactics, counter-terrorism, execution of high-risk missions, crisis negotiation, hostage rescue and close protection, among other roles. The unit was formed in 1977 as the "Special Task Force" to assist ordinary members of the force in extraordinary situations. The ERU regularly trains with the Irish Army Ranger Wing (ARW), the country's military special operations forces, sharing facilities and equipment.
The Emergency Response Unit is responsible for handling the following operations in service of the Garda Síochána;
In addition to these roles, the Garda ERU has airborne capabilities (helicopters) provided by the Garda Air Support Unit (GASU) and Irish Air Corps when required, seaborne capabilities provided by the Garda Water Support Unit when needed, dog handlers (working with the Garda Dog Support Unit), sniper teams, paramedics, hostage negotiators (Garda Hostage Negotiation Section/HNS) and psychologists.
The Special Task Force (STF) was formed on 15 December 1977 following an agreement on international terrorism at the European Council meeting in Brussels, Belgium in July 1976 on responding to terrorism. Garda officers had earlier conducted a study tour of the special units of the German Federal Police GSG 9 and Belgian Gendarmerie Speciaal Interventie Eskadron (SIE). The Special Task Force was based out of Harcourt Street, Dublin (where it is still headquartered today), under the umbrella of the Garda Special Branch (now Special Detective Unit). Many of the unit's first challenges were in combating the increasing threat of the Provisional IRA paramilitary group during The Troubles. On 17 March 1984, Special Task Force detectives captured Dominic McGlinchey, then considered leader of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), at a house in Newmarket-on-Fergus, County Clare following a gun battle in which an officer was seriously injured. In 1984, STF members underwent training with the Army Ranger Wing (ARW) forming the Anti-Terrorist Unit. The Anti-Terrorist Unit was renamed to the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) in 1987 to better reflect its role.
In the aftermath of the 2001 September 11 attacks in the United States, the ERU became a member of the ATLAS Network, a European Union (EU) organisation consisting of 32 special police units across Europe. More recently, the ERU has been deployed to trouble spots in Dublin City and Limerick City in a combined Garda effort to tackle gun violence, resulting in a 92% decline of firearms offences related to organised crime. Regular uniformed Gardaí (police officers) in Ireland are unarmed.
In 2017, operational command of the ERU was placed under the STOC to better reflect the Garda's mandate to provide firearms support and training under one command.
Membership of the Emergency Response Unit consists exclusively of serving officers in the Garda Síochána. It is understood to have more than 100 full-time officers on active duty. The head of the ERU is of Detective Chief Superintendent rank. By extension, ERU members are part of the Special Detective Unit, most are generally detectives but have few investigative duties. The identity of the unit's officers is highly sensitive, and when giving evidence in court, they are not named, appear behind a curtain and may have their voice altered. The ERU operates from a number of secret bases nationally.
The ERU includes a number of trained specialists, such as advanced drivers, marksmen, spotters, intelligence officers, communications technicians, close protection officers, weapons instructors, bomb disposal (explosives) experts, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear experts, sky marshals, dog handlers and medics. All ERU operators are trained in handling semi-automatic pistols, shotguns, submachine guns, personal defense weapons, assault rifles, sniper rifles and less lethal weapons. Shifts are up to 12 hours, with a minimum of 8 hours break between shifts, and many officers work 6 days a week. Pay, apart from overtime and expenses incurred, is no different from uniformed Gardaí of the same rank.
A number of tactical teams are on duty at any one time, with usually at least one in training or carrying out exercises. ERU operators are distinguished by their black tactical uniforms with "GARDA" and "POLICE" emblazoned in yellow across their chest and back. However, approximately 80% of ERU operations are carried out in plainclothes.
Training is carried out at the Garda Tactical Training Unit, established in 1983 under the authority of the Garda Síochána College in Templemore, County Tipperary. The Army Ranger Wing "Tactical Town" or "Tac Town" in the Curragh Camp, County Kildare is also routinely used by the ERU, and operators receive further specialised training at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Academy in Quantico, Virginia in the United States. An officer's journey into the ranks of the ERU begins with a notorious two-week initiation dubbed "hell week", where candidates are both physically and mentally assessed. Examinations include tasks to be completed within a set amount of time both on land and in water. Failure during the recruitment process is extremely high (95%), but those who complete the tests successfully are then put through a number of more specific, rigorous exercises, where their suitability for the unit is determined. Aspiring ERU officers must have at least 4 years experience as a uniformed Garda with an unblemished disciplinary record before attempting to join the unit. The unit is admittedly male-dominated, but there are understood to be a number of women who have worked and work in the ERU.
ERU officers are required to qualify three times per year for all firearms being used by the unit, complete regular fitness tests and psychological examinations. ERU officers are also subject to stringent background checks by the Garda Central Vetting Unit (GCVU). Failure to pass these assessments may mean expulsion from operational duties. As part of their training, each member of the squad is made to sample the impact of their own non-lethal weapons, including being subdued by a Taser and must perform tasks after being hit with pepper spray in the eyes. All ERU operators are trained in advanced police driving, hand-to-hand combat (unarmed), close quarters combat (CQC) with and without the use of weaponry, climbing, abseiling and first aid.
Members of the ERU train regularly alongside Regional Support Units (RSU), the Army Ranger Wing and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams in Ireland, and abroad with; the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Special Operations Branch (SOB) and Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Specialist Firearms Command (SCO19) in the United Kingdom, and FBI Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) in the US, as well as similar organisations in France (RAID & GIGN), Germany (GSG 9), Netherlands and Finland. The unit also conducts large scale scenario-based exercises each year with multiple other Garda units. Following the 2011 Norway attacks, officers from Delta, the Norwegian Police Service tactical unit, came to Ireland to receive training from the Garda ERU, showing how highly the unit are regarded internationally.
The Garda ERU is a member of the ATLAS Network, who share best practice and establish protocol concerning tactics, weapons and equipment. While the ERU armoury includes dozens of firearms, the standard issue pistol is the self-loading 9mm SIG Sauer P226, which officers carry on and off duty. Tactical teams carry rifles, depending on the operation, the most common being the Heckler & Koch HK416 assault rifle and Heckler & Koch MP7 personal defense weapon. Tasers are also carried as standard by tactical teams. In addition to firearms, ERU operators carry routine police equipment such as a knife, ASP baton, pepper spray, flashlight and handcuffs. First aid kits, firefighting equipment and respirators are commonly carried. Protective clothing for tactical teams includes ballistic armour for the head, neck, torso and limbs (including bulletproof vest, combat helmet and ballistic eyewear), fire-retardant fabric and combat boots.
Other equipment used includes a ballistic shield, breaching apparatus (including explosives for dynamic entry), audiovisual equipment (including night vision equipment) and secure communications (TETRA encrypted devices). The ERU has a large pool of unmarked police vehicles, most of which are modified high-performance vehicles, including armoured vehicles, command and control vehicles and tactical assault vehicles. The ERU trains with other Garda units and the Air Corps in the utilisation of helicopters (AgustaWestland AW139 and Eurocopter EC135) and rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RIB), and has quick access to these when required.
In order for the Emergency Response Unit to be deployed in the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR), a request must be made by the Divisional Officer to either the Detective Chief Superintendent of the Special Detective Unit, or the Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Crime & Security Branch. For operations in the other five Garda regions (Eastern, Northern, Southern, South-Eastern and Western), the Divisional Officer would make the request to the appropriate Assistant Commissioner of that region. Outside of Dublin, the relevant Regional Support Unit (RSU) is usually deployed first, and may then request support from the ERU. The ERU aims to respond to any incident within the mainland of Ireland within 60 minutes of being dispatched, and within 2 hours outside of this (islands, watercraft, oil platforms, at sea, etc.), this may be achieved through the use of vehicles, watercraft or aircraft. The ERU may assume responsibility from the Irish Prison Service in the event they are not able to bring under control prison riots and may also be deployed to assist with escorting dangerous prisoners.
In the year of 2012, the ERU was called out to more than 200 firearms-related incidents, and carried out over 100 successful close protection operations.
Legislation passed in Ireland in the aftermath of the November 2015 Paris attacks allows the Garda Emergency Response Unit to respond to a terrorism crisis in another country in the European Union, and for Gardaí to request assistance from foreign specialist forces.
Operations involving the Garda Emergency Response Unit have resulted in the deaths of ten people since 1990, including one (a Garda detective) accidentally. There have also been a number of incidents where lethal force was used but loss of life did not occur.
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