The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS),formerly and still commonly referred to as the Metropolitan Police,is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and the prevention of crime within the ceremonial county of Greater London. In addition,it is responsible for some specialised matters throughout the United Kingdom,including national counter-terrorism measures and the protection of specific people,such as the monarch and other members of the royal family,members of the government,and other officials.
Law enforcement in the United Kingdom is organised separately in each of the legal systems of the United Kingdom:England and Wales,Scotland,and Northern Ireland. Most law enforcement duties are carried out by those who hold the office of police constable of a territorial police force.
Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police,as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces,the British Transport Police,Ministry of Defence Police,and Civil Nuclear Constabulary. The title is also held by the chief officers of the principal Crown Dependency police forces and the Sovereign Base Areas Police in Cyprus. The title was also held,ex officio,by the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers under the Police Reform Act 2002. It was also the title of the chief officer of the Royal Parks Constabulary until this agency was disbanded in 2004.
Police ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships in police organisations. The rank system defines authority and responsibility in a police organisation,and affects the culture within the police force. Usually,uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms.
Cumbria Constabulary is the territorial police force in England covering the unitary authority areas of Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness in the ceremonial county of Cumbria. As of September 2017,the force had 1,108 police officers,535 police staff,93 police community support officers,and 86 special constables.
Ian Warwick Blair,Baron Blair of Boughton,is a British retired policeman who held the position of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2005 to 2008 and was the highest-ranking officer within the Metropolitan Police Service.
Dame Cressida Rose Dick is a retired British police officer who served as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2017 to 2022. She is both the first female and first openly lesbian officer to lead London's Metropolitan Police Service.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis,commonly referred to simply as the Deputy Commissioner,is the second-in-command of London's Metropolitan Police Service. The rank is senior to Assistant Commissioner,but junior by one rank to Commissioner. The Deputy Commissioner's salary from 1 September 2010 is £214,722,making them the second highest paid British police officer.
Sir Paul Robert Stephenson is a British retired police officer who was the Metropolitan Police Commissioner from 2009 to 2011.
The Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC) is the volunteer police force of the Metropolitan Police Service. It is one of three Special Constabularies operating within London,the others being part of the City of London Police and British Transport Police. The service was created over 190 years ago under the Special Constables Act 1831. As of November 2021 it consists of 1,450 officers,making it the largest in the UK.
Sir Joseph Simpson KBE KPFSM,commonly known as Joe Simpson to his officers,was Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis,the head of the London Metropolitan Police,from 1958 to 1968. He was the first Commissioner who began his police career as an ordinary constable.
Tarique Ghaffur is a former Ugandan-born British police officer in London's Metropolitan Police Service. His last post was that of Assistant Commissioner–Central Operations.
Sir Stephen House is a British police officer who served as Acting Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in 2022. After beginning his career at Sussex Police in 1981,House held positions in Northamptonshire Police and West Yorkshire Police,then became Assistant Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police in 1998. In 2001,he joined the Metropolitan Police as a Deputy Assistant Commissioner,remaining there until 2007,when he was appointed Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police.
Bernard Hogan-Howe,Baron Hogan-Howe,is an English former police officer and was the head of London's Metropolitan Police as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2011 until 2017.
The history of the Metropolitan Police in London is long and complex,with many different events taking place between its inception in 1829 and the present day.
The New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 31 December 1926.
Simon Byrne,is a senior English police officer. He served as Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) from July 2019 until he resigned in September 2023. He was the Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police from 2009 to 2011 and the Assistant Commissioner for Territorial Policing in the Metropolitan Police Service from 2011 to 2014. He then served as Chief Constable of Cheshire Constabulary from 2014 to 2017.
The New Year Honours 1921 were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were published on 31 December 1920.
On 22 March 2017,a terrorist attack took place outside the Palace of Westminster in London,seat of the British Parliament. Khalid Masood,a 52-year-old Briton,drove a car into pedestrians on the pavement along the south side of Westminster Bridge and Bridge Street,injuring more than 50 people,four of them fatally. He then crashed the car into the perimeter fence of the palace grounds and ran into New Palace Yard,where he fatally stabbed an unarmed police officer. He was then shot by an armed police officer,and died at the scene.
Keith David Palmer was a British police officer who was posthumously awarded the George Medal,the second-highest award for gallantry "not in the face of the enemy". Though unarmed,he stopped Khalid Masood,a knife-wielding terrorist from entering the Palace of Westminster during the 2017 Westminster attack;he was fatally wounded in the attack. He had worked for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) for 16 years,and had joined the force's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Group in April 2016.
