Police Area and Other Forces
The police area policed by the Metropolitan Police Service is known as the Metropolitan Police District (MPD). In terms of geographic policing, the MPS is divided into a number of Borough Operational Command Units, which directly align with the 32 London boroughs covered. The City of London (which is not a London borough) is a separate police area and is the responsibility of the separate City of London Police.
The Ministry of Defence Police are responsible for policing of Ministry of Defence property throughout the United Kingdom, including its headquarters in Whitehall and other MoD establishments across the MPD.
The British Transport Police is responsible for policing of the rail network in the United Kingdom, including London. Within London, they are also responsible for policing of the London Underground, Tramlink and the Docklands Light Railway.
The English part of the Royal Parks Constabulary, which patrolled a number of Greater London's major parks, was merged with the Metropolitan Police in 2004, and those parks are now policed by the Royal Parks Operational Command Unit. There is also a small park police force, the Kew Constabulary, responsible for the Royal Botanic Gardens, whose officers have full police powers within the park. A few London borough councils maintain their own borough park constabularies, though their remit only extends to park by-laws, and although they are sworn as constables under laws applicable to parks, their powers are not equal to those of constables appointed under the Police Acts, meaning that they are not police officers.
It should be noted that despite these specialist police forces the MPS is statutorily responsible for law and order throughout the MPD and can take on primacy of any incident or investigation within it.
MPS officers have legal jurisdiction throughout all of England and Wales, including areas which have their own special police forces, such as the Ministry of Defence, as do all police officers of territorial police forces. Officers also have limited powers in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Within the MPD, the MPS will take over the investigation of any serious crime from the British Transport Police and Ministry of Defence Police if it is deemed appropriate. Terrorist incidents and complex murder enquiries will almost always be investigated by the MPS, with the assistance of any relevant specialist force, even if they are committed on railway or Ministry of Defence property. (A minor oddity to the normal jurisdiction of territorial police officers in England and Wales is that MPS officers involved in protection duties of the Royal Family and other VIPs have full police powers in Scotland and Northern Ireland in connection with those duties.)
Read more about this topic: Metropolitan Police Service
Famous quotes containing the words police, area and/or forces:
“A sure proportion of rogue and dunce finds its way into every school and requires a cruel share of time, and the gentle teacher, who wished to be a Providence to youth, is grown a martinet, sore with suspicions; knows as much vice as the judge of a police court, and his love of learning is lost in the routine of grammars and books of elements.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Self-esteem is the real magic wand that can form a child’s future. A child’s self-esteem affects every area of her existence, from friends she chooses, to how well she does academically in school, to what kind of job she gets, to even the person she chooses to marry.”
—Stephanie Martson (20th century)
“... we shall never become an immense power in the world until we concentrate all our money and editorial forces upon one great national daily newspaper, so we can sauce back our opponents every day in the year; once a month or once a week is not enough.”
—Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906)