Counter Terrorism Command

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Counter Terrorism Command
Active2 October 2006 – present
(formed from the merger of the
Agency Metropolitan Police
AbbreviationSO15

Counter Terrorism Command (CTC) or SO15 is a Specialist Operations branch within London's Metropolitan Police Service. [1] The Counter Terrorism Command was established as a result of the merging of the Anti-Terrorist Branch (SO13) and Special Branch (SO12) in October 2006, bringing together intelligence, operations, and investigative functions to form a single command. [1] CTC has over 1,500 police officers and staff, and a number of investigators based overseas and also hosts the Counter Terrorism Policing headquarters.

Contents

It originated in 1883 as the Irish Bureau, or Special Irish Branch as it became known, formed in 1883 at New Scotland Yard by the then Home Secretary Sir William Harcourt. It consisted of just 12 detectives aiming to defeat the "Fenian" terrorist campaign that had been on-going in London and across the country. As of November 2013 the current form of CTC comprised 1790 staff including 1350 police officers and 600 detectives working in 75 specialist units with the capability to respond proactively or reactively anywhere in the world.

Responsibilities

According to Counter Terrorism Command's website, [1] the Command’s overriding priority is to keep the public safe and to disrupt terrorist-related activity in the United Kingdom and against UK interests overseas by:

The Counter Terrorism Command has a number of other national security functions. It deals with sensitive national security investigations, such as Official Secrets Act enquiries, the investigation of war crimes (effectively making it the successor to the Met's War Crimes Unit) and crimes against humanity, and politically motivated murders. [1]

Counter Terrorism Command is part of the Counter Terrorism Policing network. [2] [3] It is overseen by the counter-terrorism coordination committee, chaired by Assistant Commissioner Matt Jukes of the Metropolitan Police Service. [2] As part of its role in the Counter Terrorism Policing network, SO15 operate against the threat of terrorism at a local, national, and international level and engages with a range of partners to prevent terrorist related activity, including the Security Service (MI5) and Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). [1]

Known operations

In its present form Counter Terrorism Command has been responsible for investigating several high-profile terrorist incidents, including:

Through the International Operations branch of Counter Terrorism Command, SO15 has proactively deployed officers around the world as well as in response to terrorist incidents in support of host countries and to investigate when British nationals are the victims of acts of terrorism. Such investigations include:

Heads

This position is formally known as Head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, and is given the title Commander or Acting Commander. [5]

No.NameTenure startTenure endRef
1Commander Peter Clarke 20062008 [6]
2Commander John McDowall20082011
3Commander Richard Walton20112015
4Commander Dean Haydon20152018 [7]
Acting Commander Clarke Jarrett20182019 [5]
5Commander Richard Smith2019Incumbent [5]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Counter Terrorism Command website". Counter Terrorism Command. MPS. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Counter-terrorism". Counter Terrorism Policing. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  3. "Background | CTU". Counter Terrorism Police - North East. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  4. Walton, Richard (November 2013). 130 years of Counter Terrorism Policing at Scotland Yard. SO15.
  5. 1 2 3 "Commander Richard Smith is Metropolitan Police's New Head of Counter Terrorism Command". 28 August 2019.
  6. "The Guardian profile: Peter Clarke". TheGuardian.com . 28 July 2005.
  7. "Dean Haydon appointed as Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing".