Riot Police Unit

Background

In the pre-war era, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (TMPD) established the Special Security Unit (特別警備隊, Tokubetsu-keibi-tai). During the war, in conjunction with other prefectures, this unit was changed to the Security Unit (警備隊, Keibi-tai), but was disbanded in 1946.

On the same day, the Guard section (防護課, Bougo-ka) was created for the same role in the TMPD. In 1948, this unit was reinforced to the Police Reserve Units (予備隊, Yobi-tai). These civilian police corps worked as a rapid reaction force to maintain public order against large-scale violence or other incidents. In 1957, their name was changed to the Riot Police Units. Until 1962, all Prefectural Police Departments had the same kind of units.

Organization

Riot police units comprise the main strength of the Security Bureaus of each Prefectural Police Departments. Most Departments have only one unit, but on the other hand, some urban Prefectural Police Departments have multiple units. For example, there are ten units (nine ordinary units and one Special Vehicle Unit) in the TMPD.

Each units consist of a headquarters and some companies. The Public relations divisions, known as "DJ cops", are placed in each unit headquarters. They rely on eloquent and humorous speaking to prevent crowd disasters.

Functional components

Basically, the equipment of the riot specialists is also the same as the regular police officers except for equipment used in riot control operations such as protective gear. But within the Riot Police Units, there are certain squads with specific equipment and training.

Anti-firearms squads (銃器対策部隊, Jūki-taisaku-butai)

As a response to the Kin Kiro Incident, the NPA requested the establishment of sniper teams for each Prefectural Police Departments in 1969, and until 1973, all Prefectural Police Departments had these kind of teams as a part of the Riot Police Units. They were reorganized in 1996. In 2002, these teams were reinforced as local counter-terrorism squads cooperating with the national-level Special Assault Teams. And there are certain units with enhanced capabilities in urban prefecture, such as the Emergency Response Team (ERT) of the TMPD and the Riot And Tactics Squad (RATS) of the Saitama Prefectural Police. They're equipped with Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns and Howa M1500 sniper rifles. Its current manpower is about 1,900 officers. They serve as first response units to respond to emergencies at nuclear power plants.

Ranger squads (レンジャー部隊, Renjā-butai)

In 1970, the TMPD established a ranger squad in their 7th Riot Police Unit. Its primary mission was search and rescue, but with their superior mountaineering skills, they also attend to hostage rescue missions such as the Asama-Sansō incident. In 2001, the squad was enhanced to four squads. Two of them are the Mountain rescue ranger squads and rest of them are the Anti-firearms ranger squads (銃器対策レンジャー部隊, Jūki-taisaku-renjā-butai), the intermediate counter-terrorism squads between the Anti-firearms squads and the Special Assault Teams.

Counter-NBC terrorism squads

Chemical, biological and nuclear defense squads. In some Prefectural Police Departments, they had been enhanced as an independent unit. They work in coordination with the AFS and the SAT.

EOD squads

Bomb disposal squads.

Reserves

Full-time riot police units can also be augmented by auxiliary riot police units with regular police officers trained in riot duties. There are two types of auxiliary riot police units:

Second-tier Riot Police Units (第二機動隊, Dai-Ni-Kidō-tai)

These units operate as a reserve duty forces under control of each Prefectural Police Departments. In the TMPD, these kind of units are referred to as the Special Riot Police Units (特別機動隊, Tokubetsu-Kidō-tai).

Regional Riot Police Units (管区機動隊, Kanku-Kidō-tai)

These units are under control of Regional Police Bureaus of the NPA for regional operations as reinforcements to the other prefectures.