Search and Intervention Brigade

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Search and Intervention Brigade
Brigade de recherche et d'intervention (French)
Logo featuring a gargoyle
Active	1964 – present
Country	France
Agency	National Police
Type	Police tactical unit
Role	Counter-terrorism Law enforcement
Common name	Anti-Gang Brigades
Abbreviation	BRI
Commanders
Notable commanders	Robert Broussard (Paris BRI)
Notables
Significant operation(s)	2015 Charlie Hebdo shooting November 2015 Paris attacks

A Search and Intervention Brigade (French: Brigade de recherche et d'intervention (BRI) (pronunciation^ⓘ), Investigation and Intervention Brigade or Anti-Gang Brigade) is a unit of the French National Police.^[1] The first units were formed in 1964 and carried out their tasks under the command of the Paris prefecture.^[2]

BRIs are specialized in serious criminal cases such as armed robbery and kidnappings. They typically attempt to catch offenders in the act after monitoring their activities, a technique that was first experimented with in the 1960s by the then-new Paris BRI. They use a mix of traditional techniques and modern technology to collect and archive data about banditry. Although most of the pictures illustrating this article show uniformed officers (of the Paris BRI-PP) during a hostage-rescue public demonstration, most BRI missions are undertaken by plain clothed officers. There are now more than 15 BRI units, located in France's major cities. The first of them, the Paris BRI (or BRI-PP for Préfecture de Police), was created in 1964.

In 1972, in the wake of the Munich massacre, it was decided that BRI-PP would, as an additional task, form the nucleus of a police tactical task force known as Brigade Anticommando (Counter-commando Brigade) or BRI-BAC.^[3] BRI-BAC, when activated, is reinforced by other specialised units of the Préfecture de police. It has been involved in the resolution of hostage crises from its beginnings in the early 1970s to the Porte de Vincennes siege in January 2015 and the "Bataclan" assault during the November 2015 Paris attacks. In the Porte de Vincennes case, BRI-BAC and the National Police's RAID operated together as part of the National Police Intervention Force (French: Force d'Intervention de la Police nationale or FIPN).^[4]