Spezialeinsatzkommando
| Spezialeinsatzkommando | |
|---|---|
| Country |
 Germany
|
| Branch | Varies |
| Type | Special forces |
| Role | Domestic Counter-Terrorism and Law Enforcement |
| Size | Varies |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Varies |
Special Deployment Commandos, German: Spezialeinsatzkommandos (SEK) (previously Sondereinsatzkommando which has the same meaning), are the specialized operation armed response units of the sixteen German state police forces.
The comparable units of the German Federal Police are GSG 9 and BFE+.
The organization of special police forces varies from state to state. Whilst most states have created one Special Deployment Commando which is based in their capital city. Others have more than one. North Rhine-Westphalia Police or Rheinland-Pfalz State Police have established Special Deployment Commandos in other major cities as needed. The Bavarian State Police and Hessen State Police both have two Special Deployment Commandos - one each for the north and the south.
A SEK unit can be attached to the (barracked) Rapid Reaction Police or to big regional police headquarters. However, the common trend is to put the SEK units under control of the State Investigation Bureau, whenever possible in a unit also consisting of the Mobiles Einsatzkommando (MEK, mobile special response unit) or other specialized forces like crisis negotiation teams.
The internal organisation of SEKs rests with the units and therefore differs as well.
The SEK of South Bavaria has an alpine component and the SEK units of Bremen and Hamburg have elements trained for maritime tasks. Some SEKs also have specialized negotiation groups (Verhandlungsgruppen, commonly abbreviated as VGs) for cases like hostage situations or suicide attempts.
Any state police officer is eligible to apply for service in a SEK unit, but it is common only to consider applications from officers with at least two years of duty experience. The age limit is mostly between 23 and 35 years, whilst operatives have to leave the entry teams when they reach the age of 42 (or 45 in some states). Both sexes can be recruited; however, only a few policewomen have been able to handle the extensive and challenging tests. At the moment, only the SEK units of Hamburg (note: the SEK-equivalent unit in Hamburg is also called MEK), Schleswig-Holstein and Southern Hesse have women in their ranks.
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Wikipedia