Metropolitan Police
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly known as the Metropolitan Police, which is still its common name, serves as the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and crime prevention within the ceremonial county of Greater London. In addition, it is responsible for specialised tasks throughout the United Kingdom, such as UK counter-terrorism measures, and the protection of certain individuals, including the monarch, royal family, governmental officials,[10] and other designated figures. Commonly referred to as the Met, it is also referred to as Scotland Yard or the Yard, after the location of its original headquarters in Great Scotland Yard, Whitehall in the 19th century.[11] Its present headquarters are near there at New Scotland Yard on the Victoria Embankment.[12]
Not to be confused with City of London Police.Metropolitan Police Service
The Met[1]
MPS[2]
29 September 1829[3]
1,858 special constables
1,500 police support volunteers
3,658 volunteer police cadets
£4.43 billion[7]
1,578 km2 (609 sq mi)
8.95 million (2019/20)[8]
England and Wales
(throughout the whole of the United Kingdom, including Scotland and Northern Ireland, under certain limited circumstances)
New Scotland Yard, Westminster, London, England
32,493 full time
1,858 special constables
1,262
The main geographical area of responsibilities, the Metropolitan Police District, consists of the 32 London boroughs,[13] and excludes the small City of London — a largely non-residential and financial district, overseen by the City of London Police. As the force responsible for the capital of the UK, the Met has significant responsibilities and unique challenges, such as protecting 164 foreign embassies and High Commissions,[14] policing London City and Heathrow airports, protecting the Palace of Westminster, and managing a higher volume of protests and events than any other British police force, with 3,500 such events in 2016.[14]
The force, by officer numbers, ranks as the largest police force within the UK and among the largest globally.[15] Excluding its national roles, the Met oversees the eighth-smallest primary geographic area (police area) compared to other territorial police forces in the UK.
The force operates under the leadership of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, directly accountable to the Home Office and the Mayor of London, through the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime. The post of commissioner was first held by Sir Charles Rowan and Sir Richard Mayne, with Sir Mark Rowley currently holding the position since July 2022.[16]
Governance[edit]
Since January 2012, the Mayor of London is responsible for the governance of the Metropolitan Police through the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC).[20] The mayor is able to appoint someone to act on his behalf. As of April 2019, the office-holder is the deputy mayor for policing and crime, Sophie Linden.[21] The work of MOPAC is scrutinised by the Police and Crime Committee (also known as a police and crime panel) of the London Assembly. These structures were created by the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 and replaced the Metropolitan Police Authority-appointed board created in 2000 by Greater London Authority Act 1999.
Before 2000, the Metropolitan Police was under the authority of the Home Secretary, the only British territorial police force to be administered by central government. The Metropolitan Police Office (MPO), although based at Scotland Yard, was a department of the Home Office created in 1829 and was responsible for the force's day-to-day administration. Under the authority of the receiver, a civilian official who was equivalent in rank to the deputy commissioner and served as the force's chief financial officer, it was headed by a civilian secretary, who was equivalent in rank to the assistant commissioners.[22]
The Metropolitan Police Service is organised into the following directorates:[33]
Each is overseen by an assistant commissioner or, in the case of administrative departments, a director of police staff, which is the equivalent civilian staff grade. The management board is made up of the commissioner, deputy commissioner, assistant commissioners and directors.
The Met's Police Staff are non-warranted civilians, including police community support officers (PCSOs), designated detention officers (DDOs), and many other civilian roles.[64] The Met was the first constabulary to introduce PCSOs. Unlike other police staff, police officers in the Met (as elsewhere in the UK) are not employees, but rather Crown servants, and holders of the Office of Constable. Their numbers are currently:
Other London emergency services:
