Headquarters Mobile Support Unit
| Headquarters Mobile Support Unit | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1980 - Present |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Branch |
 Police Service of Northern Ireland
|
| Type | Police Tactical Unit |
| Role |
Counter-terrorism Law enforcement |
| Part of | Specialist Operations Branch (C4) |
| Insignia | |
| Abbreviation | HMSU |
The Headquarters Mobile Support Unit (HMSU) is the Police Tactical Unit of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The HMSU was originally formed in the then Royal Ulster Constabulary part of Special Branch and was involved in several controversial shootings during The Troubles.
The Headquarters Mobile Support Unit (HMSU) was a uniformed elite unit established by the Royal Ulster Constabulary, intended to be their equivalent of the Special Air Service. Members of the HMSU were enrolled into Royal Ulster Constabulary Special Branch and were trained by the Special Air Service to on how to confront Irish Republican Army (IRA) members and other opponents with "firepower, speed and aggression".
The unit had its prototype in the Bessbrook Support Unit set up in 1977 as part of the scaling-up of the Royal Ulster Constabulary's numbers and capabilities under Chief Constable Kenneth Newman to "Ulsterise" as far as possible the maintenance of security. The intensively trained and highly armed Bessbrook Support Unit were intended to take over from the Special Air Service the role of deployment along the South Armagh border to intercept IRA active service units. The Bessbrook Support Unit were in 1979 replaced with a Special Patrol Group, which was in turn replaced in 1981 by the Special Support Unit (SSU). The SSU was subsequently renamed the Headquarters Mobile Support Unit (HMSU) as the initials SSU were considered too similar to SAS, suggesting a military-style unit.
The SSU were infamously involved in the alleged "shoot-to-kill" incidents of November and December 1982, when six republican paramilitaries were shot dead in three separate incidents, all of whom turned out to be unarmed. These incidents, and evidence which came out in court of organised falsification of the details of the encounters, led to the setting up of the 1984–86 Stalker Inquiry.
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