The metropolitan special constabulary

“Specials”, as they are normally known, are part-time policemen and women who devote much of their spare time helping their regular police colleagues and members of the public. The work is voluntary and unpaid apart from certain out-of pocket expenses. With the exception of boots and shoes uniform is provided.

Special Constabies have the same responsibilities and powers of arrest as regular police officers, and their duties range from assisting at ceremonial duties such as Trooping the Colour[10] to controlling traffic; from policing football matches or large sporting events to antivandal patrols or assisting with searches and instructing women’s groups in crime prevention and self defence.

An applicant for enrolment in the Metropolitan Special Constabulary must be of British nationality (by birth, naturalised or registered as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies), between 18 ¹/₂ and 50 years of age and be prepared to undergo a medical examination - at no cost to the applicant. Applications cannot be considered from serving members of the Armed Forces, Territorial and Army Volunteer Reservists, members of the Fire or Ambulance services,

the medical, nursing or midwifery professions or a security organisation or private police force.

Once a Special Constable has been attested, he or she attends a training course which lasts for 28 weeks. The course, which is ar arranged at times which do not interfere with a recruit’s

full-time occupation, consists of a series of lectures and demonstrations given by regular police officers. This is followed by practical training on the streets in the company of a regular or trained “Special”. Refresher courses are given from time to time to ensure that “Specials” are fully conversant with new procedures and legislation.

Special Constables receive compensation for loss of wages if injured whilst on duty or when required to perform a duty for which the Special Constable has not volunteered - such as attendance at court to give evidence. While on duty, they are covered in the same way as a regular police officer.

The initial period of service with the Metropolitan Special Con- stabulaiy is three years, but successful applicants can continue serving until they reach the upper age limit of 55 years.

A Special Constable will be attached to a police station in the area of his or her choice. However, all Special Constables are attested for duty within the Metropolitan Police District as a whole and may, therefore, on occasions be requested to undertake duty away from their parent station.

The prevention of crime and the preservation of law and order are among the most important community services of our time. The Metropolitan Special Constabulary makes a positive and valuable contribution in achieving these aims.

ESSEX POLICE FORCE

Queens Cottage

Stortford Road

Leaden Roding

Great Dunmow

Essex CM6 IQX

Mrs L. Afendikova 15 November 1995

Flat 56, House 20

Polotskaya Street

Donetsk 340092

Ukraine

Dear Mrs Afendikova

Greetings to you and all my police colleagues. My name is Keith Palmer. I am a police sergeant in the Essex Police Service and the husband of Eileen Palmer, who wrote to you recently. Eileen showed me your letter. In it you requested knowledge of commands used by police commanders towards junior officers. I will endeavour to enlighten you as to the system of management used within the British Police Service.

Our Police Service does not operate in the same way as yours. We have, over the past twenty years, moved from the ‘military style’ of police management, to a more ‘corporate style’. In effect, the police have become a business organisation, rather than a ‘force’. We no longer use the words ‘Police Force’, but rather ‘Police Service’.

We still have a rank structure. The ‘badges of rank’ are still based on the military style, but the ‘titles of rank’ differ to those in the military, with the exception of the rank of ‘sergeant’.

Within the Essex Police Service, of which I am a member, there are now six police ranks. They are Chief Constable; Assistant Chief Constable; Superintendent; Inspector; Sergeant; Constable. Although we have these ‘ranks’, in order to convey a more corporate image, Sergeants are referred to as ‘supervisors', Inspectors as ‘managers’,

Superintendents as ‘senior managers’ and Chief Constables, as the ‘executive’. In line with this ‘corporate image, there is no saluting of senior ranks, by junior ranks. Any order given is permitted to be questioned. The giver of that order is obliged then to explain the reason for that order. However, if after explanation, the recipient of that order fails to carry out that order, the matter may be reported to the Complaints & Discipline Department. The giver of the order, is then put in the position of having to justify that the order was lawful.

Recruits to the police service may join at age of 19. All recruits must be both physically and dentally fit, have a good standard of education and pass an entrance examination. The recruits are then subject to an interview, to discover if they are psychologically able to perform police duties.

All new recruits spend an initial ten weeks at a police training school. These ten weeks are broken up into modules, where the recruit spends time working within a territorial division, under the direction ol a tutor constable. The recruit is on a two year probation, during whicl time the tutor constable and his sergeant report on his progress on a monthly basis. If the recruit does not come up to the required standard, he is dismissed. Once a constable has had his probation confirmed after his two year period, he cannot be dismissed unless he has committed a criminal offence, or has gone before the Chief Constable for an act against the discipline code, for which the Chief Constable has the power to dismiss him.

Essex Police has a Uniform Branch consisting of ten ‘Territorial Divisions', a ‘Traffic Division’ and a ‘Support Division’. The Support Division is divided into: Marine Section (three launches that patrol the North Sea Coast around Essex, together with the river estuaries in and around Essex), Air Support (two helicopters). Dog Section, Mounted Branch (horses used mainly for crowd control) and the ‘Special Support Section’ (officers trained in crowd control and specialist firearms officers). There is of course the ‘Criminal Investigation Division’. They supply detectives to work within the territorial divisions, together with a ‘scenes of crime department’ (collectors of forensic evidence). Their ‘Support Section’ is divided into squads dealing with fraud, vehicle theft, regional crime and special branch.

Entrance into the ‘Support or Specialist Divisions’ is by way of stringent selection process. If a particular department within that division has a vacancy, it advertises internally. Officers then apply to that department for an application form to complete. Once completed, the application is then vetted by the constables supervisor and first line manager who put a recommendation on it. If recommended, the officer is called for an interview by the management (called the 'Command Team’) of that department. If selected, the Command Team of that department, apply to the constables present Territorial Division Command Team, to release him.

Divisions are commanded by a Superintendent who has a senior inspector as his deputy. The territorial divisions are divided into sub-divisions and sections. Sub-divisions have four inspectors managing a shift each. The shift will work an eight hour day. Each shift has three sergeants supervising about ten constables. Sections, which are much smaller and look after mainly rural areas, have one inspector to manage the section. He will operate four shifts with one sergeant in charge of each shift of about four constables.

Although I use the descriptive ‘He’, I am not implying that all are men. All ranks have female members of staff as well.

Promotion is by way of a two part examination, followed, if passed, by an interview selection process. The promotion interview boards are advertised annually. Officers wishing to be considered for promotion, must have first passed the relevant examination (there are only two promotion examinations that of constable to sergeant and sergeant to inspector). The officer must then apply to his Divisional Commander for his recommendation. The promotion interview team usually consist of an Assistant Chief Constable and two Superintendents. One of the Superintendents, being the officers Divisional Commander.

I passed the exams to inspector in 1982.1 tried for five years to pass an interview board. On failing the last one, I gave up. Having given up on further promotion, I joined the Traffic Division. Together with one other sergeant, I supervise a small traffic section at Newport, Essex. The section has four shifts, with four constables on each shift. The primary objective of our section is looking after part of the Ml 1 motorway, apart from the other road systems in the area.

The Chief Constable also employs a large civilian organisation. The civilian organisation controls the finance, administration, information technology and training.

I will send to you by parcel post, maps of the Essex Police area, together with anything else I consider may be of interest to you and your students.

I will close now, hoping that I will hear from you or one of your students in the not too distant future.

Yours in friendship Keith Palmer

THE TRAFFIC POLICE

The men and women in London’s Traffic Patrol, numbering over 800 and have responsibility for some 3 million licensed vehicles travelling on London’s 8,600 miles of road and motorway every day. These officers have three basic objectives: the prevention of accidents', the maintenance of traffic flow and relief of congestion; and the enforcement of the law, especially as it relates to motoring and the motorist.

The control of London’s traffic is always very much in the balance, bearing in mind that at any given time during the day there are some 100,000 vehicles on the move. At peak hours this could reach 190,000. Because the roads, despite many traffic management schemes and other improvements, were not built to cope with such volumes of traffic, the situation is always critical unless action is taken immediately. The cost to the community of congestion in London is enormous, without taking account of the additional cost of repairs to vehicles damaged in accidents.

The control and regulation of traffic is now one of the three main functions of police, but it was not until 1839, with the passing of the Metropolitan Police Act, that they were given any powers concerning traffic, and then only on special occasions. But in fact traffic control soon became an accepted part of police duty.

As early as 1868 the first experiments with traffic signals were made in Westminster. Then more controls were introduced as more motor vehicles began to appear on the streets at the end of the 19th century.

During the First World War a special ‘arrangement’ was made by police to cope with traffic. This showed the value of having a separate body dealing with this particular problem and in May 1919 the Traffic Department of the Metropolitan Police came into being.

In 1955 the Central Traffic Squad was formed. This squad had its own Traffic Control Room at Wellington Arch Police Station, the smallest police station in London located in the middle of Hyde Park Comer. From this original concept the whole of the present system of traffic control in London was evolved and the squad eventually became the Traffic Control of today.

London is divided into five Areas and, for traffic policing, each is under the control of a Superintendent. There are a total of nine police garages from which the Traffic Officers, recognisable by their white caps, operate with a fully equipped fleet of white cars (usually white Rover 827І) motorcycles, and SETACs (‘Specially Equipped Traffic Accidents Cars’), which are usually Land Rovers and carry all the equipment needed to deal with a major accident.

All members of Traffic Patrol are volunteers, who are fully trained police officers and have chosen to specialise in work concerning traffic. They are very carefully selected as it is essential that they have a genuine aptitude for traffic patrol duties. The aim of every Traffic Officer is to become a ‘Triple Class I’ - this means that he or she will be a Class I Driver and Motorcyclist and will also have attended the Traffic Patrol Course, qualifying him as an Accident Investigator and Vehicle Examiner.

Two innovations have made it considerably easier to keep London’s traffic moving. In 1960 the Traffic Warden Scheme was introduced to enforce parking regulations. Since then Wardens, who are civilians, have taken on other duties previously performed by police such as point duty and school crossing patrols.

In 1968 Civilian Vehicle Removal Officers (V.R.O.’s) were recruited to assist Police in removing vehicles parked inconsiderately or causing serious obstruction, primarily in central London. In 1983 wheel clamping of illegally parked vehicles commenced in central London. This is carried out by private contractors employed and supervised by police. The removal of illegally parked vehicles is also carried out by contractors. Some 125,000 vehicles are clamped and removed each year.

The second innovation has been the increasing use of modern technology. Emergency telephones, traffic flow sensors and television cameras, helicopters and, of course, radio, all assist not only in surveillance but alert the Police Traffic Control Centres to any incident or accident, especially on motorways. Prompt action prevents a small incident or accident becoming more serious.

In 1968 the West London Traffic Experiment was introduced. Some 71 sets of traffic signals were linked to a computer at New Scotland Yard. The scheme was developed in conjunction with the Greater London Council who were then London’s Traffic Authority. As well as more closed circuit television coverage, Traffic Control now controls over 1,000 sets of traffic signals in London. Each motorway has its own local Control Centre.

The Traffic Control radio room is part of the central communications complex at New Scotland Yard, where it is known as ‘Oscar’ control - ‘Oscar’ being the radio call sign identifying Traffic Patrol units. ‘Oscar’ control is manned 24 hours a day by police officers and civilians from the communications branch, who operate three radio channels dedicated to traffic matters - information relating to accidents, traffic congestion, vehicles removed by police to car pounds, vehicles clamped, availability of breakdown vehicles from private garages. In addition, information on vehicle owners, disqualified drivers and all aspects of traffic law is readily available.

Traffic Control has direct telephone lines to the Fire and Ambulance services as well as all the nearest Police Forces. A Traffic Information Bureau is operated where information is collected on the state of traffic in the capital. Such information is constantly updated and supplied to the London Regional Transport bus control and the A.A, R.A.C. and the B.B.C.[11] Motoring Unit, who provide a traffic information service for motorists. Broadcasters from B.B.C. Greater London Radio make live broadcasts on traffic conditions from within Scotland Yard.

Perhaps the most famous unit of motorcyclists in London is the Special Escort Group, which can be seen on state and ceremonial occasions. They are all Class I motorcyclists and their duties mainly consist of providing escorts for visiting Heads of State and members of the Royal Family for security reasons. From this Group the members of the famous Motor Cycle Precision Team gives impressive public displays ot controlled riding, weaving intricate patterns, many of which have been devised by the Team. The sheer skill of these officers when executing these manoeuvres on their powerful machines has been acknowledged by motorcyclists worldwide.

Another escorting function of the Group is when a very large and indivisible load has to be moved through London. These can weigh up to 400 tons, be over 100 feet long and with varying widths. Approximately 1,000 of the 20,000 that move through London each year are escorted.

Accident Investigation Units operate on each traffic division. The> consist of Traffic Patrol officers highly skilled in the scientific methods of reconstructing accidents, to ascertain the true cause and presenting their findings to Courts when appropriate.

The police play an important role in the planning of future roads and traffic management schemes and there are officers on Areas whose job it is to liaise with the Engineers in the many local authorities within the Metropolitan Police District.

OUR COMPUTERISED POLICE

One of the greatest innovations of our time has been the growth of computers. This growth has been accompanied by a developing myth that computers can solve all our problems at the touch of a button. One thing that must always be remembered is that they can only do what man has designed them to do.

In recent years the police have increasingly brought computers into use and the Metropolitan Police uses various computer systems.

At present the largest system is the Police National Computer, maintained by the Home Office for use by all police forces. This computer gives police forces throughout the country immediate access to selected central records. With the growth of police records manual searches took an increasingly long time often causing embarrassing delays. Now the information is available in seconds.

The first index to be placed on computer was the stolen and suspected vehicles index. In the past, checking a stolen vehicle was a laborious process. The patrolling officer would have to stop the car and then radio his station, who in turn would telephone the Information Room at New Scotland Yard and ask for a vehicle check. It was then necessary to search the card index and the whole process from the officer stopping the vehicle to him receiving the result could take 10 minutes or more.

Now the check can be done by the Central Command Complex or a Divisional Control Room in seconds, even while the vehicle is still moving.

However, a vehicle will only be shown in this index if the owner knows it has been taken and has reported the fact. It was not unknown for a car thief to get away with it by telling a good story. To assist police, the vehicle owners’ list was added. Now if the police officer stops a car which is not known as stolen, and he is still not satisfied, he can, within seconds, obtain the name, address of the real owner — something the thief will not necessarily know.

This gives a speedy, nationwide coverage as this example shows. A car was stolen in London and driven towards Wales along the M4. The owner reported the taking of his car shortly before the car reached the Severn Bridge. The car was stopped on the Severn Bridge, checked and found to be stolen and the occupants arrested.

Another use of the computer is to list persons convicted for serious offences, also persons wanted or missing and those disqualified from driving. Once an individual is identified as belonging to one of these categories, police officers can obtain information from the Police National Computer which will help them to decide on the most appropriate course of action.

A police force can also use this computer for sending urgent messages to other forces throughout the country.

The computer also contains fingerprint records. Previously, when a person’s fingerprints were sent to New Scotland Yard a Fingerprint Officer coded the set and then did a manual search to see if the person was already known. Now he just feeds this into the computer which gives a list of responses to the search in seconds. This information is fed to a Videofile computer which retrieves the images of the fingerprints, stored on videotape, for viewing by an Identification Officer on a TV screen.

The most recent innovation in identification of fingerprints is the Automatic Fingerprint Recognition System, which is a computerised method of comparing finger marks found at the scene of a crime with known fingerprints.

Other operational and administrative computer systems are operated and managed by the Metropolitan Police Department of Computing Services (DCS). Their administrative systems handle day-to-day matters such as calculating the pay of police officers and civil staff, keeping their personal records, maintaining records of the fleet of more than 3,500 vehicles, general storekeeping, financial accounting and compiling the statistics needed by the Service. Indeed, much the same functions as computers in any large organisation. Other systems handle the processing of traffic tickets and penalty notices issued in the MPD area and the allocation of accommodation to police officers.

There are other areas where computers assist in the fight against crime.

The Criminal Investigation Department has installed HOLMES (Home Office Large Major Enquiry System) to improve the organisation and administration of information, and to provide more efficient retrieval capabilities, during major enquiiy investigations such as outbreaks of public disorder, murders and rapes. There are computers keeping a check on samples sent to the Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory, other computers provide support to crime detection units.

The number of small computers in use in the Force is increasing constantly ranging from support to local information systems on Crime Analysis to Victim Support and Neighbourhood Watch Schemes. These systems are in addition to a programme of installing small computer systems in every Area and Divisional Headquarters to provide local management information and operational support, forming the first stages of Office Automation.

Another computer is used by the Metropolitan Police in the control of traffic in central London and areas outside the centre which suffer from traffic congestion. There are over 1,500 sets of traffic lights linked to the computer.

The computer controls the timing of the lights automatically, adjusting them to meet the time of day and the anticipated traffic flow. The computer also monitors traffic signals for faults, warning operators when they fail.

Should the traffic become affected for any reason the computer becomes aware of this by means of sensors in the road. An alarm then warns the operators who can use any of the 60 TV cameras to find the cause. The operators can manually control the lights and direct traffic away from the area as quickly as possible.

Finally, a computer has been installed for Command and Control purposes. With the increasing use by the public of the telephone to contact the police it is obviously important to streamline the means of handling calls and directing police resources.

In the first stage of the Command and Control scheme, operators in the Central Command Complex at New Scotland Yard who receive ‘999’ emergency calls enter the details on a VDU[12]. As soon as the operator enters the caller’s location the computer will work out a map reference, display the police subdivision which covers that location and the call-sign of the local police car. When the message is complete, the operator touches a key to pass the message to the appropriate radio operator.

The radio operator’s VDU immediately shows a summary of the new message, so that he can decide whether to call up the full message straight away, or whether it is more urgent to continue dealing with some other message he may currently have on full display. The computer will already have sought out from its memory, the nearest available cars which may be instructed to deal with the matter.

All Divisional police stations now have a control room, with VDUs connected to the computer network, so that these local stations can also be in instant touch with the Central Command Complex about messages received and resources deployed by any of them.

Computers are very much tools of the police. They do not mean that London needs fewer police officers to do the same job more quickly and efficiently. The data contained in computers is only of value and interest to police in the context of their duty to prevent and detect crime.