An interim report on the Ministry of the Interior’s Rapid Reaction Force (SRK), which has been in place since 2021, was published in Vienna on Monday. In addition, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, Director General for Public Security Franz Ruf, Provincial Police President Gerhard Pürstl and Ernst Albrecht, Head of the “WEGA, SRK, KSOD/GSOD and NFIS” department at the Ministry of the Interior, presented the latest acquisition of the WEGA, the Survivor special operations vehicle from Tyrolean vehicle manufacturer Achleitner. “The most important challenges that have emerged from the police reporting statistics presented a few days ago are cyber and juvenile crime, illegal migration and smuggling, as well as extremism and terrorism – three factors are crucial in order to be able to combat these challenges in the best possible way,” said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner at the presentation in the Roßauer Kaserne in Vienna. “Sufficient personnel, the right strategy and organization as well as an appropriate budget and equipment.” https://militaeraktuell.at/bundesheer-50-kontingent-im-kfor-einsatz/ Karner emphasized that the right conclusions were drawn after the terrorist attack in 2020: “The terrorist attack required special measures, which is why the WEGA model in Vienna was extended to all federal states in order to maintain a high level of effectiveness for special situations. Since the Rapid Reaction Force was set up, it alone has made 6,643 arrests.” The Interior Minister said that the security budget for internal security had been increased by one billion euros to 4.55 billion euros. “The specially protected Survivor I vehicle is part of this offensive work and the costs of 1.9 million euros are money well spent.” Karner added that 3.4 million euros will also be invested in body cameras and ten helicopters will be purchased over the next six years. “This is powerful police work and our task to ensure the safety of the people in Austria.” The Survivor I vehicle from Achleitner, which is almost six meters long, two and a half meters wide and two and a half meters high ( -> see interview with Achleitner Managing Director Alexander Achleitner) is WEGA’s second specially protected vehicle, weighs 10,500 kilos and has 285 hp. It is equipped with a cable winch, a self-extinguishing system, a camera system, a searchlight, a dozer blade, a pile driver and a ladder system, among other things. Inside the vehicle, emergency crews can communicate safely and also operate in a high-risk zone thanks to the high protection class of the vehicle body. Rapid reaction forces (SRK) The SRC in the federal states (except Vienna) are divided into rapid intervention groups (SIG) and standby units (BE). There are SRC bases in all federal states except Vienna. They are located in the provincial capitals or in the vicinity. In Lower Austria, there is an additional base in Traiskirchen. Since the establishment of the SRC, 71,557 reports have been filed in the federal states (except Vienna) (2021: 22,102, 2022: 25,486, 2023: 20,266, 2024: 3,703) and 6,643 arrests have been made (2021: 1,359, 2022: 2,454, 2023: 2,686, 2024: 144). A total of 236,771 I-detentions were carried out, 49,800 organ mandates were issued and 919 removal orders were issued. In the first quarter of 2024, 13,500 official acts were carried out by the on-call units (excluding Vienna), of which 6,800 identities were established, 35 arrests were made and 24 removals were issued, and 3,300 administrative offences were reported. https://militaeraktuell.at/praezision-aus-kufstein-bei-der-iwa-2024/ Director General Franz Ruf emphasized that the rapid reaction forces were installed in the federal states after the terrorist attack “in order to be able to support police officers on regular patrol duty quickly and effectively”. Rapid intervention groups (SIG) are mainly deployed in special situations, while the standby units are mainly deployed in the area of hotspots and demonstrations, said Ruf. He cited the recent arrests following a burglary in a jewelry store in Styria and the arrest of a man in Burgenland who had attempted to murder his wife as examples of successful SRC operations. “There are currently 350 police officers working at the SIG, 58 are currently undergoing six weeks of training.” Provincial Police President Gerhard Pürstl added that Vienna has had a system in place for decades with the WEGA and the riot unit, which has brought the Vienna police the great successes that can be read and seen every day. “The best example of this was the terrorist attack in November 2020, where the perpetrator was neutralized within a very short time.” He was pleased that this concept had been implemented nationwide, said Pürstl, and thanked the police for their support in the personnel and equipment offensive, “which continues with the handover of the Survivor I vehicle”.
