The Flying Squad is a branch of the Serious and Organised Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service. It is or has also known as the Robbery Squad (since its primary purpose is to investigate robberies), Specialist Crime Directorate 7, SC&O7 and SO7. It is nicknamed The Sweeney, an abbreviation of the Cockney rhyming slang "Sweeney Todd" (rhyming "squad" with "todd"), or the Heavy Mob. [1]
Its name is thought to arise either from its permission to cross divisional boundaries [2] or from its first vehicles, which were refurbished Crossley Motors 20/25 type tenders [3] previously used by the Royal Flying Corps, which were supplied to the Metropolitan Police in 1920. [4] [5]
The squad was originally formed on an experimental basis by Detective Chief Inspector Frederick Wensley. In October 1919, Wensley summoned 12 detectives to Scotland Yard to form the squad. The group was initially named the Mobile Patrol Experiment and its original orders were to perform surveillance and gather intelligence on known robbers and pickpockets, using a horse-drawn carriage with covert holes cut into the canvas. [1]
In 1920, it was officially reorganised under the authority of then Commissioner Nevil Macready. Headed by Detective Inspector Walter Hambrook, the squad was composed of 12 detective officers, including Irish-born Jeremiah Lynch (1888–1953), who had earned a fearsome reputation for tracking wartime German spies and for building up the case against confidence trickster Horatio Bottomley. [1] The Mobile Patrol Experiment was given authorisation to carry out duties anywhere in the Metropolitan Police District. [6] Throughout the 1920s, the squad was standardised and expanded, and the establishment was expanded to 40 officers, under the command of Detective Chief Inspector Fred "Nutty" Sharpe until his retirement in July 1937.
In 1948, the Squad was given the designation of C.O.(C.8) for Commissioner's Office Crime 8 and was augmented. In July that year, it learned of a plan to steal £750,000 (almost £25 million in 2019) of bullion, jewellery and other valuables from the BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) secure warehouse at Heathrow Airport by drugging the guards. [7] Squad officers replaced the guards and pretended to be drugged, with other officers stationed around the warehouse. When the thieves removed the keys to the safe from Detective Sergeant Charles Hewett, the Squad announced its presence and a violent struggle ensued with many on both sides suffering serious injuries. [8] The nine offenders received a total of 71 years' imprisonment for what became known as the Battle of London Airport. [9]
By 1956 the Squad made one thousand arrests per year for the first time. [10] In the 1960s it undertook the role of capturing and gathering evidence against the Kray twins, with many officers giving evidence in court. [9] The squad took up investigating the Great Train Robbery, which had no firearms involved, but did not catch all of the robbers. [11]
From 1978 to 1981 the name was changed to the Central Robbery Squad, but still known as the Flying Squad. This was the era in which the squad's close ties with the criminal fraternity, which had always been a necessary part of its strategy, were being exposed to public criticism. A number of scandals involving bribery and corruption were revealed, and on 7 July 1977, the squad's commander, Detective Chief Superintendent Kenneth Drury, was convicted on five counts of corruption and imprisoned for eight years. [12] Twelve other officers were also convicted and many more resigned. These and other scandals led to a massive internal investigation by the Dorset Constabulary into the Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London Police, codenamed Operation Countryman. [13]
On 26 November 1983, £26 million worth of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash was stolen from the Brink's-Mat depot, on a trading estate near Heathrow Airport in West London. Flying Squad officers were involved extensively in the investigations which followed to attempt to trace, arrest and convict the gang members involved and their associates. Some of the most dangerous work undertaken by the Flying Squad is the "pavement ambush", where police ambush armed robbers during an offence. During Operation Char in 1987, and Operation Yamoto in November 1990, this approach led to three armed robbers being shot dead by police. [1]
The Flying Squad's work was dramatised in the 1970s British television series The Sweeney , and two theatrically released feature film spin-offs, Sweeney! and Sweeney 2 , starring John Thaw and Dennis Waterman. A further film adaptation, The Sweeney (starring Ray Winstone), was released in 2012. [19]
The Monty Python sketch "Argument Clinic" featured "Inspector Fox of the Light Entertainment Police, Comedy Division, Special Flying Squad", and "Inspector Thompson's Gazelle of the Programme Planning Police, Light Entertainment Division, Special Flying Squad." [20]
In an episode of the Thin Blue Line , Inspector Fowler expresses displeasure at the idea of the Flying Squad using his station for an investigation on the grounds that their members urinate inaccurately. [21] It was also depicted in television shows Thief Takers in the 1990s and The Gold in the 2020s.