They have deployed twice again in our province in recent weeks: the Special Interventions Service, or in short, the DSI. First during the manhunt for the TBS prisoner who had fled from Halsteren, later during the arrest in Empel, during which half a street was cleared in the middle of the night. But who are the people on this special team? And when exactly do they take action? Below is a profile of the DSI.
For the start of the DSI we have to go back to July 1, 2006. The idea for the elite corps gained momentum two years earlier, after the difficult arrests of members of the Hofstad Group, the group of radical Muslim youth with terrorist plans. With the DSI, these types of arrests should be made faster and better from now on.
However, it is certainly not the case that the specialized teams only take action in actions with a terrorist link. This mainly has to do with the different branches that fall under the DSI umbrella. The best known are probably the Arrest and Support Teams (AOT), colloquially often referred to as the ‘arrest team’.
Planned arrests and confused people
They are mainly called in for planned arrests of potentially dangerous firearms suspects. These are often carried out in the middle of the night. Consider the example in Empel this week. But the team is also called if there is a confused person who may be a danger to himself or his or her environment. This is in line with the arrest of the escaped TBS prisoner in Hulten.
These AOTs generally consist of police officers who have undergone special training to join the arrest teams. That process consists of a number of grueling weeks, full of physical and psychological tests. In addition, future AOT officers are taught special skills that can be useful during dangerous arrests.
Blue and green
The composition of the other well-known department, the Intervention Department (AI), is slightly different. This includes not only advanced police officers, but also members of the Marine Corps, the Commando Troops and the Royal Military Police. It is a collaboration between ‘blue’ and ‘green’ that is still unique in the world to this day. In contrast to the AOTs, the AI mainly takes action in the arrest of terrorist suspects.
In total, the DSI currently consists of about 600 so-called operators. For the time being, these are only men, which is mainly due to the heavy physical demands. In previous recruitment campaigns, women were expressly called on to also register.
From hostage taking to torture containers
In any case: the actions of the DSI often appeal to the imagination. Not least because of the mysterious character, which is maintained by wearing balaclavas. But also because of the attention that the teams’ efforts often attract.
Such as recently with the arrests of Fouad L., who murdered three people in Rotterdam. And we also remember the images of the hostage taker in Amsterdam, who died last year after being hit by a vehicle full of DSI members on Leidseplein. And here too we saw them at work extensively, when the torture container was discovered in Wouwse Plantage in July 2020. The intense images of that operation can be seen below.