East Midlands Operational Support Service | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | EMOpSS |
Agency overview | |
Formed | 5 May, 2015 |
Annual budget | ~£22,000,000 GBP (2015) [1] |
Legal personality | Law enforcement agency partnership |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction | Leicestershire, UK Lincolnshire, UK |
Constituting instrument | |
General nature | |
Operational structure | |
Elected officers responsible | |
Agency executive | |
Parent agency | Leicestershire Police Lincolnshire Police |
The East Midlands Operational Support Service (EMOpSS) is a multi-force shared service, incorporating two UK Police Forces within the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom.
The East Midlands Operational Support Service (EMOpSS) was established on 5 May 2015 under a collaboration agreement in accordance with Section 23E of the Police Act 1996. The parties affected by this agreement are police and crime commissioners for Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, and Nottinghamshire, as well as the chief constables for all of the four forces.
On 1 May 2018 the Nottinghamshire Police left the East Midlands Operational Support Service after an internal review found that the service was "fundamentally flawed," "inefficient," and "unsustainable." [2] [3]
Nottinghamshire Police also stated that their response times had been greatly delayed due to the shared service and that some police cars had been seriously damaged due to extended and prolonged use, travelling hundreds of miles a day.
Paddy Tipping, Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said at the time that he was not confident that people in need of help would get it in a timely manner due to the EMOpSS.
The remaining three forces in the shared service stated that they did not agree with Nottinghamshire Police's review and said that although the service may have not worked well in Nottinghamshire, it was working fine in the remaining forces.
On 30 March 2019, Northamptonshire Police formally left the partnership. In May 2021 the Chief Constable Nick Adderley stated that Northamptonshire Police were now "reaping the benefits of bringing specialist operational units back to Northamptonshire". The Chief Constable also stated that his primary responsibility is Northamptonshire and the people of Northamptonshire were not benefiting from this partnership. This appears to be the same conclusion that Nottinghamshire Police came to just one year prior. Northamptonshire Police recorded a 122% increase in incidents that armed officers responded to and now have 15 of their own police dogs. [4]
The East Midlands Operational Support Service is the responsibility of the police and crime commissioners for the partner forces, as well as their chief constables. The EMOpSS combines the specialist officers and resources of Leicestershire Police, Lincolnshire Police and Northamptonshire Police. These specialist officers and resources work together to support the three counties and form six primary units/teams.
Although the chief constables and commissioners are responsible for the support service, the forces decided to allow the assistant chief constable of Leicestershire Police, Julia Debenham, to be directly in charge of EMOpSS.
The EMOpSS Dog Section provides the region with 40 general-purpose police dogs that are deployed for a variety of operations, including searching for people, evidence, illegal substances, disarming violent offenders, and compliance. [5]
The Dog Section is based out of Leicestershire Police Headquarters in Leicester.
The EMOSS Roads and Armed Policing Team (RAPT) are a 24/7 response and patrol team. Each officer in RAPT is a Home Office approved authorized firearm officer and has advanced driving and pursuit training. RAPT officers are equipped with firearms and tasers. RAPT are responsible for patrolling roads, combatting anti-social or illegal driving, counter-terrorism, and attacks involving weapons. [6]
The role of the SCIU is to investigate all fatal road collisions, where someone is seriously injured, and those where someone is believed to be at fault. They also support families of people who have been fatally wounded in a road traffic collision. [7]
The Serious Collision Investigation Unit is made up of five separate and specific roles.:
Officers within the Tactical Armed Policing Team are Home Office Approved Authorised Firearms Officers. They are responsible for: responding to armed incidents, pre-planned armed deployments (such as search/arrest warrants where the suspect is believed to be armed), prisoner escorts and responding to CBRN incidents. [8]
The Tactical Armed Policing Team are based out of Northamptonshire Police Headquarters in Northampton.
The Tactical Roads Policing Team of EMOpSS is responsible for patrolling roads and enforcing road traffic laws, combating Anti-social behaviour driving, vehicle pursuits and discouraging criminal behaviour by remaining visible to the public. [9]
The TRPT is based out of a Lincolnshire Police station in Grantham and Leicestershire Police Headquarters.
The Tactical Support Team are a group of officers who are responsible for executing search warrants, public order and specialist searches for evidence, missing people or bodies. They specialize in the method of entry, underwater searching and water rescue. [10]
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.
Thames Valley Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley, covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in South East England. It is the largest non-metropolitan police force in England and Wales, covering 2,218 square miles (5,740 km2) and a population of 2.42 million people.
West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England.
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.
Devon and Cornwall Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of Devon and Cornwall in South West England. The force serves approximately 1.8 million people over an area of 3,967 square miles (10,270 km2).
Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The service area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million. As of September 2017 the service has 3,484 police officers, 1,619 police staff, 253 police community support officers, 155 designated officers and 208 special constables. The force is led by Chief Constable Serena Kennedy.
A firearms unit is an armed unit within each territorial police force in the United Kingdom. For the most part, the police forces of the United Kingdom are unarmed; however, all have firearms units to provide the police force with the capability to deal with terrorists and armed criminals. A police officer cannot apply to join the firearms unit without first finishing their two-year probationary period, with a further two years in a core policing role for some forces. Firearms unit is the most common name outside of the capital, while that of London's Metropolitan Police Service is called the Specialist Firearms Command, Trojan or SC&O19. Within the media it is sometimes compared to the SWAT units of the United States.
Leicestershire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland in England. Its headquarters are at Enderby, Leicestershire.
The York Regional Police (YRP) is the police service of the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada. YRP was formed in 1971 from the police forces maintained by the nine municipalities which amalgamated into York Region at the time. The force had a strength of over 1,500 sworn members and 618 unsworn members as of 2015.
Lancashire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Lancashire in North West England. The force's headquarters are at Hutton, near the city of Preston. As of September 2020, the force has 3,088 police officers, 190 special constables, and 280 police community support officers (PCSO), 300 police support volunteers (PSV), and 2,287 staff.
Essex Police is a territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Essex, in the East of England. Essex Police is responsible for a population of over 1.8 million people and an area of 1,420 square miles (3,700 km2).
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in South East England.
Sussex Police are the territorial police force responsible for policing in the whole of Sussex. Their jurisdiction covers the ceremonial counties of East Sussex and West Sussex. Their headquarters are in Malling House, Lewes, East Sussex.
Nottinghamshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the shire county of Nottinghamshire and the unitary authority of Nottingham in the East Midlands area of England. The area has a population of just over 1 million.
Northamptonshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Northamptonshire in the East Midlands of England, in the United Kingdom.
The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) is the standing police force of the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands. The police force was formed in 1907 and currently (2009) stands at 343 enlisted officers, tasked with tackling Crime in the Cayman Islands.
A Police Support Unit or PSU is a unit of police officers who have undergone specialist tactical training in Public Order and Riot Control.
Police Scotland, officially the Police Service of Scotland, is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist services of the Scottish Police Services Authority, including the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. Although not formally absorbing it, the merger also resulted in the winding up of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.
Counter Terrorism Policing is the national collaboration of police forces working to prevent, deter, and investigate terrorism in the United Kingdom.