National Surveillance Unit
| Irish: Aonad Faireacháin Náisiúinta | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1995 |
| Preceding agency |
|
| Jurisdiction | Ireland |
| Headquarters |
Phoenix Park, Dublin (D8) Harcourt Street, Dublin (D2) |
| Employees | Undisclosed (estimated 100) |
| Annual budget | Undisclosed (part of Garda Síochána budget, €1.34 billion in 2014) |
| Minister responsible | |
| Agency executives |
|
| Parent agency |
Crime & Security Branch Garda Síochána
|
The National Surveillance Unit (NSU) (Irish: Aonad Faireacháin Náisiúinta) is the principal clandestine intelligence gathering and surveillance operations unit of the Garda Síochána, the national police force of Ireland. The unit operates under the Crime & Security Branch (CSB), based at Garda Headquarters in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, and also works from Harcourt Street, Dublin. Members of the unit are specially trained and selected Detective Gardaí who are tasked to remain covert whilst on and off duty, tracking suspected criminals, terrorists and hostile, foreign spies operating in Ireland. The unit's detectives are routinely armed. The National Surveillance Unit is understood to possess a manpower of approximately 100 officers, and is considered to be the most secretive arm of the force.
The Garda National Surveillance Unit was formed in the mid-1990s, when the "Crime Special Surveillance Unit" and the "Crime Ordinary Surveillance Unit" were merged. It is the operational wing of the Security & Intelligence Section (S&I) of the Crime & Security Branch (CSB). The unit is headed by a Detective Chief Superintendent, who is under the supervision of the Assistant Commissioner in charge of the Crime and Security Branch. It is understood to have a strength of about 100 plainclothes officers, mainly detectives, who all carry firearms (standard issue is the concealable Walther P99c 9mm semi-automatic pistol). The unit is headquartered in the Phoenix Park, but carries out many operations from Harcourt Street. The NSU has personnel nationwide, and works closely with the Special Detective Unit (SDU) as well as Garda analysts or "techies" in other Garda regions, although often local Gardaí are unaware of the presence of the NSU operating in their area.
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