The Ministry of Defence is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.
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.
A police authority in the United Kingdom is a public authority that is responsible for overseeing the operations of a police force. The nature and composition of police authorities has varied over time, and there are now just four dedicated "police authorities" in the United Kingdom, although the term can refer to various similar successor bodies.
The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of army service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK and while service personnel are deployed overseas on operations and exercises. Members of the RMP are often known as 'Redcaps' because of the scarlet covers on their peaked caps and scarlet coloured berets.
The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) is a special police force responsible for providing law enforcement and security at any relevant nuclear site and for security of nuclear materials in transit within the United Kingdom. The force has over 1,500 police officers and support staff. Officers within the force are authorised firearms officers due to the nature of the industry the force protects.
Royal Ordnance Factories (ROFs) was the collective name of the UK government's munitions factories during and after the Second World War. Until privatisation, in 1987, they were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply, and later the Ministry of Defence.
An authorised firearms officer (AFO) is a British police officer who is authorised and trained to carry and use firearms. The designation is significant because most police officers in the United Kingdom do not routinely carry firearms. The only forces where officers are routinely armed are the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Ministry of Defence Police, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, Belfast Harbour Police and the Belfast International Airport Constabulary.
Deputy chief constable (DCC) is the second highest rank in all territorial police forces in the United Kingdom. The British Transport Police, Ministry of Defence Police, Civil Nuclear Constabulary, and the Isle of Man Constabulary each also has a DCC.
The Air Force Department Constabulary was a police force in the United Kingdom, responsible for policing the airfields and aerodromes under the control of the Air Ministry, later the Air Force Department.
The Admiralty Constabulary was a police force in the United Kingdom formed under the Special Constables Act 1923. It was formed on 1 October 1949 by merging the Royal Marine Police and the Royal Marine Police Special Reserve and the Admiralty Civil Police. That Admiralty Constabulary was in turn amalgamated with the Army Department Constabulary and the Air Force Department Constabulary in 1971 to form the Ministry of Defence Police.
A police area is the area for which a territorial police force in the United Kingdom is responsible for policing.
In the United Kingdom, the term military police refers to the three branches of service police, responsible for policing armed forces personnel. The Royal Military Police polices the British Army, the Royal Navy Police polices the Royal Navy, and the Royal Air Force Police polices the Royal Air Force.
MDP officers are attested as constables in one of the three jurisdictions of the United Kingdom: England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but can exercise their powers in matters relating to the Ministry of Defence Estate throughout the United Kingdom, and additionally in the circumstances described below. MDP officers' jurisdiction relates to a subject rather than geographic area and is set out in section 2 of the Ministry of Defence Police Act 1987, which was amended by the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. MDP officers are based throughout the UK and exercise their jurisdiction over matters connected with the Defence Estate; there is no requirement for them to be on Ministry of Defence land when doing so.
The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) is a civilian special police force which is part of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. The MDP's primary responsibilities are to provide armed security and counter terrorism services to designated high-risk areas, as well as uniformed policing and limited investigative services to Ministry of Defence property, personnel, and installations throughout the United Kingdom. The MDP are not military police. Service personnel often refer to the MDP by the nickname "MOD plod".
The Northern Ireland Security Guard Service (NISGS) is a civilian organisation of the Ministry of Defence that provides armed security at military establishments in Northern Ireland.
The Royal Marine Police (RMP) was a police force in the United Kingdom formed under the Special Constables Act 1923 which existed from 1934 to 1949.
The 1st Military Police Brigade is a policing formation of the British Army, which is the only one-star command of the Royal Military Police. The brigade was formed in 2014 and is commanded by a brigader, but is due to be re-structured and reduced to a colonel's command.
