Equipment
Mercedes Sprinters are the standard vehicle of TSG and each van transports six Constables and a Sergeant. Three of these vans can form an operational Serial ready to respond to incidents; following the national PSU model this would include an Inspector, three Sergeants, eighteen Constables, two medics and three drivers.
TSG officers are not routinely armed, but are equipped with Speedcuffs, Monadnock fixed batons and CS/PAVA Incapacitant Spray like divisional officers. TSG does, however, have its own firearms capability with officers from '1 Area' being trained as Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs) on standard-issue firearms such as the Glock 17 and Heckler & Koch MP5 semi-automatic carbine, as well as less-lethal weaponry such as the L104A1 Baton Gun and X26 Taser. Officers from '1 Area' conduct certain infrequent armed patrols within London, usually supplementing Specialist Firearms Command. Instead of TSG officers wearing standard black trousers and white shirt, when policing demonstrations they often wear fire-retardant overalls with their stab vests over the top.
TSG is also authorised to deploy Tasers. They have been in use for some time by Trojan teams and are now authorised for use by TSG officers. Tasers are traditionally used to incapacitate a suspect where the use of baton or incapacitant spray has proved ineffective, and the use of a firearm is inappropriate. Tasers are intended to be a less-lethal option for police where a suspect proves particularly violent and/or resistant to conventional means of arrest.
Read more about this topic: Territorial Support Group
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