The Special Rapid Intervention Service is the name of the much-expanded DPIR structure in Bucharest. The Bucharest Police Department (DGPMB) uses SPIR for public order operations. Agressive people under the influence of alcohol, street fighting and the daily bloody battles performed by a certain ethnic minority in Romania have become a reggular picture at the outskirts of Bucharest. Policemen or reggular Jandarmery officers that were sent to calm things down got beaten to death, stabbed, lynched and even shot before by members of that population segment. SPIR was created in 1999 by Constantin Dudu Ionescu, at that time the Minister of the Interior, with the very purpose to combat these criminal elements and restore order in a city that is now slowly becoming what it used to be in the past: the little Paris, or Paris of the East.

SPIR fighters train daily in the gym, as well as in the firing range. As the service grew rapidly by admitting new and young personnel, the veterans of the now-renamed DIAS from Bucharest have chosen to wear their old uniforms. As such, members in black suits marked with both SPIR and DIAS can be seen during operations.

Remarcably, there are also female SPIR fighters. One of them, whom we'll call Roxana, already had 2 years of experience in the service in september 2002. At that time aged 24, Roxana was seen by the other fighters as their team mate, and everybody considered her their equal.

SPIR is a service which incorporates the DIAS detachment, among other detachments. For information regarding DIAS, please visit the DIAS article. This page was created due to dis-ambiguation purposes, as well as a photo gallery which would consist of Bucharest's SPIR only. Since both designations exist, it is confusing for the unweary which can not make the difference between SPIR and DIAS. To clarify things, the Romanian police has a single rapid intervention type of unit, which are the DIAS detachments. In Bucharest they are incorporated into a larger SPIR unit, thus only the designation "SPIR" appears on fatigues and vehicles. Everywhere else in the country, the formations' names range from DPIR, DIAS, DIR and SIR. However, members of the public only recognize, and use, the DIAS achronym.

US Equivalent: SWAT

I apologize for the quality of these photos.