Metropolitan Police Service
Metropolitan Police redirects here. See also metropolitan police.The
Metropolitan Police Service (
MPS) is the
Home Office police force responsible for
Greater London,
United Kingdom, with the exception of the square mile of the
City of London. It is commonly referred to by its former official name, the
Metropolitan Police, or informally as "
the Met" and sometimes as
MP. In legislation it is known as the
Police of the Metropolis.
With over 31,000 officers, the Metropolitan Police Service is the largest force by manpower in the United Kingdom.
The Metropolitan Police's headquarters are at
New Scotland Yard in
Westminster, commonly known as Scotland Yard; its head is the
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis or simply the Commissioner. The post was first held jointly by Colonel Sir
Charles Rowan and Sir
Richard Mayne, the current commissioner is Sir
Ian Blair, who is responsible to the
Metropolitan Police Authority.
The Metropolitan Police's area is known as the
Metropolitan Police District (MPD), which today coincides with the 32 London boroughs which make up
Greater London, but excludes the City of London, which is protected by the
City of London Police.
Before
April 1,
2000, the MPD covered a larger area, established well before the current borders of Greater London were set. It included parts of
Surrey,
Hertfordshire and
Essex, specifically all of
Epsom and Ewell,
Hertsmere and
Spelthorne districts, along with
Banstead,
Cheshunt,
Chigwell,
Loughton,
Esher,
Northaw and Cuffley and
Waltham Abbey.
The
Ministry of Defence Police is responsible for
Ministry of Defence property in the capital, and other bases and premises in the UK.
The
British Transport Police is responsible for the
rail systems, including
London Underground,
Tramlink and
Docklands Light Railway.
The English part of the
Royal Parks Constabulary, which patrolled a number of Greater London's major parks, was absorbed by the Metropolitan Police in
2004. There are also a few parks police forces, such as the
Royal Botanic Gardens Constabulary (it polices the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) and
Hampstead Heath. Those officers have full police powers within their limited jurisdiction, but all substantial crime and incidents remain the responsibility of the Metropolitan Police.
Some London boroughs also maintain their own borough park constabularies, such as
Newham in east London; however, their remit only extends to park bye-laws, so parks constables are not police officers as such, with any crime remaining the responsibility of the Metropolitan Police.
The Metropolitan Police has
Borough Operational Command Units for each of the 32 London boroughs, with another for
Heathrow Airport. Historically, boroughs were grouped into numbered areas, but these are no longer generally in use, save for a few administrative reasons. From 1994 to 2000 there were five: Central (consisting of the
City of Westminster with
Kensington and Chelsea and
Hammersmith and Fulham, and North-West, North-East, South-East and South-West). Prior to 1994 there had been eight divisions: North, East, South East, South, South West, West, North West and Westminster.
Because of the force's size, the Metropolitan Police is organised into several large commands.
*
Territorial Policing (TP) comprises the 32
Borough Operational Command Units that police every London borough. Assistant Commissioner
Tim Godwin is its commander.
*
Specialist Operations (SO) is broadly comprised of those units that perform tasks of national importance, such as the
Anti-Terrorist Branch and the
Diplomatic Protection Group. In overall charge is Assistant Commissioner
Andy Hayman*
Specialist Crime (SCD) investigates serious and organised crimes that are not dealt with by local boroughs. Units include
Homicide and the
Economic and Specialist Crime unit. The directorate is led by Assistant Commissioner
Tarique Ghaffur.
*
Central Operations (CO), led by Assistant Commissioner
Stephen House, provides units that support the rest of the service. These include the
Specialist Firearms Command,
Territorial Support Group and
Thames Division.
*
Deputy Commissioner's Command (DCC) encompasses several strategic units, such as Diversity and Professional Standards. The Deputy Commissoner,
Paul Stephenson leads this department.
The other major directorates are: Resources, Information, Human Resources and Public Affairs.
The service was established on
September 29,
1829, by the then
Home Secretary Sir
Robert Peel, giving rise to the nicknames of "Peelers" or "Bobbies" for members of the force. The Metropolitan Police was the third official non-paramilitary police force in the world (after the
City of Glasgow Police and the
Paris Police).
 |
Red Metropolitan Police Diplomatic Protection Group (DPG) car |
Until the middle of the
18th century, no police force operated in
London. General law and order was maintained by
magistrates, volunteer
constables, watchmen and, where necessary, the
armed forces. If a victim of crime wished to pursue an offender they could employ a "thief taker" who earned a living from such payments and, in the case of notorious offenders, the rewards offered by the courts. The novelist
Henry Fielding was appointed a magistrate in Westminster in
1748. His house at No. 4
Bow Street was established as a courtroom in
1739 by the previous owner Sir
Thomas de Veil. Fielding brought together eight trustworthy constables, who came to be known as the
Bow Street Runners, and gave them the authority to enforce the decisions of magistrates. Bow Street Magistrates' court closed in July 2006, breaking its long association with law enforcement
. The building is due to be converted to a
boutique hotel.
Fielding's blind half-brother Sir
John Fielding (known as the "Blind Beak of Bow Street") succeeded his brother as magistrate in
1754 and refined the patrol into the first truly effective police force for the capital, although the Runners were still essentially magistrate's officers and not patrolling police officers.
By
1792 salaried constables were being paid by local magistrates, and
1798 saw the establishment of the
Marine Police, a private body based in
Wapping and organised primarily to police the docks and prevent the theft of cargo. This force later amalgamated with the Metropolitan Police to form its
Thames Division, which still exists to patrol the river.
 |
Two Metropolitan Police officers and a community support officer near Buckingham Palace, London |
During the early
19th century, the
Industrial Revolution saw London become much larger. It became clear that the system of locally maintained constabularies was ineffective in the prevention and detection of crime amongst such a large population.
Royal Assent was given to the
Metropolitan Police Act on
19 June 1829. This act placed the policing of the capital directly under the control of the
Home Secretary. The initial force consisted of around 1,000 men with instructions to patrol the streets within a seven-mile radius of
Charing Cross in order to prevent crime and pursue offenders. In 1857 the Commissioner Richard Mayne was paid a salary of £1,883, and his two Assistant Commissioners were paid salaries of £800 each.
It took some time to establish the standards of discipline we expect today from a police force. For instance, in 1863, 215 officers were arrested during the year for drunkenness.One of the priorities of the police force from the beginning was "maintaining public order", and they were very active for example against the major Chartist demonstrations.The force continued to be controlled directly by the Home Secretary until
2000, when the newly created
Greater London Authority was given responsibility for the force, by means of the
Metropolitan Police Authority. The MPA is made up of members appointed by the
Mayor of London and the
London Assembly, and several independent members. However the Metropolitan Police Commissioner is still appointed by the Home Secretary.
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Metropolitan Police Officers protecting World Cup revelers in London. |
On
1 April 2000, the boundaries of the MPD were altered to conform exactly with those of
Greater London, excluding the
City of London.
The Metropolitan Police uses the standard UK police ranks on shoulder boards up to
Chief Superintendent, but it has five ranks above that level compared to the standard three.
*
Police Constable (PC) (Division Call Sign and Shoulder Number)
*Acting
Sergeant (APS) (two or three point down
chevrons over Shoulder Number with Division Call Sign)
*
Sergeant (Sgt or PS) (three point down
chevrons over Shoulder Number with Division Call Sign)
*
Inspector (Insp) (two stars of the
Order of the Bath, informally known as pips)
*
Chief Inspector (Ch Insp) (three pips)
*
Superintendent (Supt) (crown)
*
Chief Superintendent (Ch Supt) (crown over one pip)
*
Commander (Cmdr) (Commander's badge: crossed
tipstaves in a laurel wreath)
*
Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) (one pip over Commander's badge)
*
Assistant Commissioner (AC) (crown over Commander's badge)
*
Deputy Commissioner (crown above two small pips, placed side-by-side, above Commander's badge)
*
Commissioner (crown above one pip above Commander's badge)The prefix 'Woman' in front of female officers' ranks — as in Woman Police Constable (WPC) and Woman Police Sergeant (WPS) — is now obsolete. Members of the
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) up to and including the rank of chief superintendent prefix their ranks with 'Detective'. Other departments, such as
Special Branch and Child Protection, award non-detectives 'Branch Detective' status, allowing them to use the 'detective' prefix.
The Metropolitan Police also has several active
Police Cadet units (Rank VPC, Division Call Sign)..
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Metropolitan Police Vauxhall Vectra V6 CDI |
The numbers of officers in the Metropolitan Police Service:
*
2005 — 30,265 regular police officers, 750
Special Constables, 500
traffic wardens, 1,430
Police Community Support Officers, 12,500 police staff
*
2003 — approximately 29,000
*
2001 — approximately 25,000 (London population 7,172,000)
*
1984 — approximately 27,000
 |
A Fast Response Targa 31 boat of the Marine Support Unit of the Metropolitan Police, on the River Thames in London |
* In 1981 a report by
Lord Scarman branded London's Metropolitan Police institutionally
racist.
. The issue arose again in the 1999
Macpherson Report* 2000, only 4% of Officers, in which more than 25% of the population of
London are from
ethnic minorities.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/652580.stm* 2003/04, There were 6,202 accidents involving Met Police vehicles. The
City of Westminster borough being the highest over a three year period to 2003/04, with 847.
* Between 1998 and 2005 60 people have died in Met Police custody.
* 2005 pay scales for the Metropolitan Police differ from other areas in the
UK to take account of the cost of living and working in the capital.
* New constables in the Met are paid a starting salary of
£26,730, rising to
£29,103. On completion of initial training. This rises to
£30,423 after two years' probationer training.
* The
Metropolitan Police Federation, is the staff association for uniformed officers in the Met. [
1]
* In July 2006, The Crown Prosecution Service [
2], confirmed that it would not be pursuing charges against any Metropolitan Police officers involved in the shooting of
Jean Charles de Menezes. CPS senior lawyer, Stephen O'Doherty said, "there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against any individual police officer."
*
City of London Police*
Policing in the United Kingdom*
List of police forces in the United Kingdom*
London Fire Brigade*
London Ambulance Service*
The Job (MPS newspaper)*
Metropolitan Police F.C.*
Metropolitan Police website*
The Crown Prosecution Service*
Metropolitan Police Federation*
The History of Scotland Yard*
Could you? National recruiting website
