Ministry of Defence Police

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coverage
Ministry of Defence Police
Area	Ministry of Defence Land & Property within the UK
Size	MOD property/land
Population
Operations
Formed	1971
HQ	Wethersfield
Officers	3,440
Divisions	5
Stations	110
Chief Constable	Steven Love

Website	Ministry of Defence Police

The Ministry of Defence Police (or MOD Police; MDP; coloquially referred to as MOD Plods) is a non-Home Office police force in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for providing police services to Ministry of Defence property and installations throughout the United Kingdom.

The force currently has 3,500 police officers based at 110 police units at 86 locations across the United Kingdom.

1 Formation
2 Function
3 Overseas MOD Police Forces
4 Foot Notes
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Formation

The Ministry of Defence Police was formed in 1971 by the merger of three civil constabularies, the Air Force Department Constabulary (AFDC), previously under the control of the Air Ministry, The Army Department Constabulary (ADC), previously under the control of the War Office, and the Admiralty Constabulary, previously under the control of the Admiralty.^[1]

These earlier Constabularies had been formed as a result of the Special Constables Act 1923 although their histories can be traced back much further as watchmen.^[1] As such, their powers had come from different legislative sources. In 1984 the House of Commons Defence Select Committee recognised the difficulties under which the Ministry of Defence Police were operating and the Broadbent Committee's recommendations led to the passing of the Ministry of Defence Police Act 1987.^[1]

[edit] Function

It is a civil police service. Unlike most British police forces it is not responsible for policing a geographic county or area. Instead it is responsible for policing land, property, and personnel of the Ministry of Defence throughout the United Kingdom therefore all its officers are attested as constables in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, having full constabulary powers on Ministry of Defence land and property. The MDP gets its powers from the Ministry of Defence Police Act 1987,^[1] as amended by the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. MDP officers have the powers of a constable outside of the Ministry of Defence estate in emergency situations, or when asked for assistance from their Home Office force colleagues. All officers are trained to use firearms and about 70% are armed at any one time.

The MDP has its own Chief Constable who is also referred to as the Chief Executive (CE) of the MOD Police and Guarding Agency. The MDP uses the standard British police rank structure and since 1995 its headquarters has been based at the former United States Air Force base at RAF Wethersfield, now designated as MDPGA Wethersfield. It works closely with the Ministry of Defence Guard Service (MGS), as part of the Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency (MDPGA); and also with the Service police organisations, namely the Royal Military Police, Royal Air Force Police, Royal Navy Regulating Branch, and Royal Marines Police. In recent years the MDP have also provided officers to the United Nations Police in many locations around the world including Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Sudan.

The MDP is responsible for policing the Defence Estate within the United Kingdom and also provides armed front line security at many defence installations throughout the UK. The uniform worn by its officers is identical to that of the Metropolitan Police Service, apart from insignia.

It once had a presence at 120 Ministry of Defence sites, such as the Royal Arsenal; munitions and storage depots; housing estates; US Air Force Bases (on a reimbursement basis); Royal Ordnance Factories; Defence Research Establishments; and the Royal Mint. The end of both the Cold War and The Troubles in Northern Ireland, along with the subsequent closure of the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, and the privatisation of both the Royal Ordnance Factories and the QinetiQ arm of the former Defence Research Establishments reduced the number of sites that need an MOD Police presence. However the growth in terrorism may have increased the need for such an MOD Police presence^{[citation needed]}.

The force has the largest marine support unit and dog section of any of the police forces in the UK. The marine support units are responsible for the waterborne security of Her Majesty's Dockyards (HM Naval Bases). At HMNB Clyde, it shares this role with the Royal Navy's own security unit, the Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines. The 400 dog handlers utilise explosive, drug, and general purpose dogs. The Special Escort Group protects nuclear materials in transit between MOD establishments. The MDP also has a small Criminal Investigation Department (CID) with offices spread around the UK. The CID investigates all manner of crime involving persons subject to the Service discipline, dependent Service families, employees of the MOD and contractors to the MOD. The Fraud Squad investigates fraud in MOD programmes. The Operational Support Unit is a 50-strong rapid response unit which is tasked with VIP personal protection, public order and anti-terrorist search duties.

The MDP was restructured in 2003 into five land-based Divisions: Scottish Division, Northern Division, Western Division, AWE Division and South East Division. Each Division is commanded by a Chief Superintendent and has its own CID and Divisional Support Group (DSG), which is able to respond at short notice to any unforseen incident or emergency.

[edit] Overseas MOD Police Forces

The Ministry of Defence also has responsibility for two other civilian police forces:
1. The Sovereign Base Areas Police (SBAP), Cyprus: The SBAP provide a full range of policing for both the Eastern and Western Sovereign Base Areas of Cyprus.
2. The Gibraltar Docks Police (GDP): The GDP police the military base at Gibraltar.

Officers from both these forces occasionally attend courses at the MoD Police Agency Training College at Wethersfield, Essex. In June 2005 officers from the GDP marine unit gave assistance to the MoD Police marine unit at Portsmouth during the Trafalgar 200 celebrations.

[edit] Foot Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Button, Chapter 5: Specialised Police Forces

[edit] References

Button, Mark (2002). Private Policing. Cullompton: Willan Publishing. ISBN 1-903240-52-2.
George, Bruce and Button, Mark, (2000). Private Security. Leicester: Perpetuity Press. ISBN 1-899287-70-1