CTSFOs - Counter Terrorist Specialist Firearms Officers - are the most highly trained and best equipped armed police officers in the UK.
They came about in the run up to 2012, where the need was recognised for specialist armed teams to be available to respond to a terrorist attack anywhere in the UK, with a particular focus on the forthcoming London Olympics.
Existing SFO (Specialist Firearms Officers) teams across the country were subjected to an intensive training program spread across multiple police forces, to standardise their skills and equipment to the CTSFO level. There was a major recruitment uplift in 2016 which allowed effective CTSFO hubs across the UK, and this situation continues today. The Metropolitan Police has a full-time CTSFO cadre, with a team on duty 24/7 to deal with immediate threats. Other forces can draw on CTSFOs either from their existing ARV teams, or the CTSFO hubs, as needed.
All CTSFOs are recruited from existing firearms team and are required to achieve a high standard of fitness and capabilities.
In addition to ARV-level skills and tactics, CTSFOs are trained in hostage rescue, additional tactics including skills for intervention on aircraft on the ground, fast roping from buildings and helicopters, and specialised skills to allow them to work closely with surveillance teams. Some CTSFOs, in particular those in the Met, also carry out training in waterborne boarding tactics, to allow intervention on board boats and ships, in certain circumstances. Some CTSFOs additionally train in skills such as rifle officer (sniper), explosive method of entry, and advanced motorcycle riding. It’s an incredible skill set which sets them up well to deal with most types of high risk, high threat operations.
You may not be surprised to learn that CTSFOs need to be incredibly fit to keep up with the requirements of the role and to avoid injury while training and deploying. Most CTSFOs (in my experience) are men, but there are a good proportion of women officers too.
CTSFOs wear grey kit and have access to all sorts of extra equipment from weaponry to vehicles, to allow them to carry out their role. Here's a photo of some Met CTSFOs displaying a selection of firearms and kit:
Terrorist incidents in the UK are (thankfully) relatively rare - I deployed with a team of CTSFOs for the second London Bridge attack in 2019 - but the struggle to identify and prevent such attacks is never-ending. CTSFOs are involved in many operations - without any publicity - to intervene and arrest individuals and teams who are in the process of planning terrorist attacks.
In addition, CTSFOs are used in pre-planned operations where the risk or complexity is such that the most highly trained officers are needed. I have been involved on the ground in London on many of these, and it is quite awe-inspiring to see the expertise that goes into planning and delivering these operations, which by definition involve dealing with some of the most violent and dangerous people in society.
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