Flood of Deployments for Rapid Intervention Groups

The Rapid Intervention Groups (RIG) of the police have completed around 45,000 operations from their introduction in 2021 until August 2025. This was reported by the Ministry of the Interior in a press release on Thursday. More than 8,800 people have been arrested and nearly 335,000 identity checks have been conducted. The readiness units are deployed in cross-district patrols, large demonstrations, and targeted controls in public spaces.

During the rampage at a school in Graz in June 2025, RIG and Cobra forces took over the search and securing of the building. They were able to find the shooter lifeless and safely evacuate numerous students from the school.

What are the RIG?

The Rapid Intervention Groups (RIG) and the Readiness Units (RU) together form the Rapid Reaction Forces (RRF) and are modeled in training and structure on the proven Vienna model of the special unit WEGA and the Readiness Unit Vienna. RRF bases exist in all federal states except the federal capital, mostly in the state capitals; in Lower Austria additionally in Traiskirchen. In total, around 350 police officers serve in the Rapid Intervention Groups and around 450 in the Readiness Units throughout Austria.

(APA/Red)

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