Police tactical unit in the context of "Hostage"

A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or bullet-resistant vest, is a type of body armor designed to absorb impact and prevent the penetration of firearm projectiles and explosion fragments to the torso. The vest can be either soft—as worn by police officers, security personnel, prison guards, and occasionally private citizens to protect against stabbing attacks or light projectiles—or hard, incorporating metallic or para-aramid components. Soldiers and police tactical units typically wear hard armour, either alone or combined with soft armour, to protect against rifle ammunition or fragmentation. Additional protection includes trauma plates for blunt force and ceramic inserts for high-caliber rounds. Bulletproof vests have evolved over centuries, from early designs like those made for knights and military leaders to modern-day versions. Early ballistic protection used materials like cotton and silk, while contemporary vests employ advanced fibers and ceramic plates.

Aircraft hijacking (also known as airplane hijacking, skyjacking, plane hijacking, plane jacking, air robbery, air piracy, or aircraft piracy, with the last term used within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States) is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. Dating from the earliest of hijackings, most cases involve the pilot being forced to fly according to the hijacker's demands. There have also been incidents where the hijackers have overpowered the flight crew, made unauthorized entry into the cockpit and flown them into buildings—most notably in the September 11 attacks—and in some cases, planes have been hijacked by the official pilot or co-pilot, such as with Ethiopian Airlines Flight 702.

Unlike carjacking or sea piracy, an aircraft hijacking is not usually committed for robbery or theft. Individuals driven by personal gain often divert planes to destinations where they are not planning to go themselves. Some hijackers intend to use passengers or crew as hostages, either for monetary ransom or for some political or administrative concession by authorities. Various motives have driven such occurrences, such as demanding the release of certain high-profile individuals or for the right of political asylum (notably Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961), but sometimes a hijacking may have been affected by a failed private life or financial distress, as in the case of Aarno Lamminparras in Finnair Flight 405. Hijackings involving hostages have produced violent confrontations between hijackers and the authorities, during negotiation and settlement. In several cases – most famously Air France Flight 139, Lufthansa Flight 181, and Air France Flight 8969 – the hijackers were not satisfied and showed no inclination to surrender, resulting in the deployment of counterterrorist police tactical units or special forces to rescue the passengers.

Police aviation is the use of aircraft in police operations. Police services commonly use aircraft for traffic control, ground support, search and rescue, high-speed car pursuits, observation, air patrol and control of large-scale public events and/or public order incidents. They may employ rotary-wing aircraft, fixed-wing aircraft, nonrigid-wing aircraft or lighter-than-air aircraft. In some major cities, police rotary-wing aircraft are also used as air transportation for personnel belonging to police tactical units. In large, sparsely populated areas, fixed-wing aircraft are sometimes used to transport personnel and equipment.

Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to combat or eliminate terrorism and violent extremism.

If an act of terrorism occurs as part of a broader insurgency (and insurgency is included in the definition of terrorism) then counterterrorism may additionally employ counterinsurgency measures. The United States Armed Forces uses the term "foreign internal defense" for programs that support other countries' attempts to suppress insurgency, lawlessness, or subversion, or to reduce the conditions under which threats to national security may develop.

A SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations.

SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to resolve "high-risk situations", often those regular police units are not trained or equipped to handle, such as shootouts, standoffs, raids, hostage-takings, and terrorism. SWAT units are equipped with specialized weapons and equipment not normally issued to regular police units, such as automatic firearms, high-caliber sniper rifles, stun grenades, body armor, ballistic shields, night-vision devices, and armored vehicles, among others. SWAT units are often trained in special tactics such as close-quarters combat, door breaching, crisis negotiation, and de-escalation.

The GIGN (French: Groupe d'intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale pronunciation; transl. "National Gendarmerie Intervention Group") is the elite tactical unit of the French National Gendarmerie. Among its missions are counterterrorism, hostage rescue, surveillance of national threats, protection of government officials, critical site protection (such as French embassies in war-torn countries), and targeting organized crime.

Established in 1973 and becoming operational in 1974, the GIGN was initially created as a relatively small tactical unit specialized in sensitive hostage situations, but has since grown into a larger force with expanded responsibilities and capabilities. It is now composed of nearly 1,000 operators. The main unit comprises around 400 operators based in Satory, near Versailles in the Paris Region. Approximately 600 additional operators make up fourteen regional GIGN branches called AGIGNs (French: Antennes du GIGN), seven of which are also located in metropolitan France and the remaining seven, in French overseas territories. The unit shares jurisdiction of French sovereign territory with the special response units of the National Police, and its training centre is located in Beynes.