Viking Squad

Special Unit of the National Police Commissioner
Sérsveit ríkislögreglustjóra (Icelandic)
Active19 October 1982 - present
Country Iceland
AgencyIcelandic Police
TypePolice tactical unit
Role
Motto"Með lögum skal land byggja"
"The land shall be built by laws"
Common name
Structure
Operators46[1]
Notables
Significant operation(s)
An armed officer from the Viking Squad in 2012

The Special Unit of the National Police Commissioner (Icelandic: Sérsveit ríkislögreglustjóra), more commonly referred to as the Viking Squad (Icelandic: Víkingasveitin), is the police tactical unit of the Icelandic Police.[2]

The unit is in many ways modeled on the Delta tactical unit of the Norwegian Police Service with which it conducts many exercises, both in Norway and Iceland. As of 2021, the unit has 46 police officers.[1][3]

The National Police Commissioner published that the squad would be fully staffed at 55 police officers by 2010.[citation needed] In 2018, it was staffed with 46 officers.[4] Iceland has no standard military, and thus some functions usually performed by military forces in other nations are performed in Iceland by units such as the Viking Squad.[citation needed]

  1. ^ a b "46 skipa sérsveit ríkislögreglustjóra". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 2018-03-30. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  2. ^ "The Icelandic Police and the Justice System A short introduction" (PDF). The National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police. September 2005. p. 10. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  3. ^ Ministry of Justice (28 March 2018). "dómsmálaráðherra við fyrirspurn frá Albertínu Friðbjörgu Elíasdóttur um starfsemi sérsveitar ríkislögreglustjóra" (in Icelandic). Althing. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  4. ^ "46 skipa sérsveit ríkislögreglustjóra". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 30 March 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2024.