The strike squads are deployed across urban areas so as to encompass all protected zones as fully as possible and to get to the scene as quickly as possible.

They are guided by the Surveillance Centre’s operators and dispatchers.

It takes several to a dozen or so minutes to intervene, depending on the time of the day and the location of a property.

The key responsibilities of the strike squads include:

• move along assigned itineraries in urban areas to monitor and reach, if necessary, properties under surveillance
• confirm the reasons for requesting intervention
• call the police
• identify upon arrival the exposure of people and property to hazards,
• take any intervention measures
• secure traces at the scene