Operation Trident, or simply Trident, is a Metropolitan Police unit originally set up in 1998 as an initiative with the police to tackle "black-on-black" [1] [2] gun crime following a series of shootings in the London boroughs of Lambeth and Brent. [3] By 2008 the unit was responsible for investigating all non-fatal shootings for the Metropolitan Police, and in February 2012 the unit's remit was again expanded: the new Trident Gang Crime Command was launched, incorporating responsibility for tackling wider gang crime. In 2013 the unit gave up responsibility for investigating fatal shootings, which was taken over by the Homicide and Serious Crime Command. [4] [5] [6]
Trident is currently led by Detective Chief Superintendent Dean Haydon, [7] who joined the team from the Counter Terrorism Command in 2012.
The perceived importance of Trident's mission was such that it was established as a dedicated Operational Command Unit, called the Trident Operational Command Unit, [8] within the Metropolitan Police Specialist Crime Directorate.
The campaign uses gun amnesties and advertisements encouraging people to phone Crimestoppers with information related to gun crime. These advertisements appear in the media, nightclubs, on petrol pumps, telephone boxes, and on the radio. As part of Specialist Crime and Operations Directorate, Trident is also known as SC&O8.
As the timeline of the police unit and program has roughly paralleled the development and growth of the rap-styled UK Grime urban music scene, Trident and Grime have had numerous and varied interactions that have mirrored early controversy and conflict around American Gangsta Rap. While some artists like Giggs have spoken out against what they claim is heavy-handed censorship and attempts to sabotage their careers by applying pressure to venue owners, radio stations, and record labels, [9] others like the Roll Deep Crew have worked with Trident to create anti-violence messaging packaged in ways more likely to reach marginalized urban youth. [10] Artist JME, particularly known for his lyrics which are dismissive of content that relies on excessively violent hyperbole, released a short film via VICE Magazine, entitled "The Police vs Grime Music", investigating the details of the phenomenon of police suppression of grime events. [11]
In 2006, Trident officers raided the home of vintage gun enthusiast Mick Shepherd, seizing much of his collection. [12] At the time, press reports claimed a "huge gun-smuggling racket" had been uncovered, and that guns sold by Shepherd were linked to a number of murders. After being held in Pentonville and then the high-security Belmarsh prisons on remand for 10 months awaiting trial, [13] Shepherd was acquitted of all 13 firearms offences with which he was charged. [14]
In 2011, armed police officers killed Mark Duggan while he was under investigation by Trident. Duggan was aware of this, texting "Trident have jammed me" moments before his death, [15] when he was soon shot by armed officers on the evening of 4 August 2011. His killing sparked the 2011 England riots, ultimately leading to 5 dead, over 200 reported injuries, over 3000 arrests. Following the IPCC (now IOPC)'s investigation, an inquest was launched in 2013, ultimately leading to an 8-2 verdict finding a lawful killing. In December 2019, Forensic Architecture released a report contenting with the police's version of events, and asked for the investigation to be reopened, [16] but this was ultimately rejected [17] by the IOPC.
The Specialist Crime Directorate (SCD) was one of the main branches of London's Metropolitan Police Service. It provided highly visible specialist policing services across the whole of London. Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley had previously led the directorate but it was later led by Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick. The Directorate led national police agency with regard to specialist crime investigations such as e-crime, sex crimes or kidnappings, hostage-taking and contract killings.
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly known as the Metropolitan Police, which is still its common name, serves as the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and crime prevention within Greater London. In addition, it is responsible for specialised tasks throughout the United Kingdom, such as dealing with counter-terrorism throughout the UK, and the protection of certain individuals, including the monarch, royal family, governmental officials, and other designated figures. Commonly referred to as the Met, it is also referred to as Scotland Yard or the Yard, after the location of its original headquarters in Great Scotland Yard, Whitehall in the 19th century. The Met is presently headquartered at New Scotland Yard, on the Victoria Embankment.
The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) was a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom which existed from 1 April 2006 until 7 October 2013. SOCA was a national law enforcement agency with Home Office sponsorship, established as a body corporate under Section 1 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. It operated within the United Kingdom and collaborated with many foreign law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
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).
Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection (PaDP) is a branch of the Protection Command within the Specialist Operations directorate of London's Metropolitan Police Service.
SO10 was the former designation of the London's Metropolitan Police's Covert Operations Group.
The Specialist, Organised & Economic Crime Command is a unit within the Gangs and Organised Crime group of Specialist Crime & Operations within London's Metropolitan Police Service. The unit's main responsibility is to both investigate and take steps to prevent fraud, along with a wide range of other fraudulent crimes which require specialist knowledge and training to investigate. The unit was previously known as the Fraud Squad, or by its previous Specialist Operations designation, SO6.
The Specialist Operations directorate is a unit of the Metropolitan Police in London, England. It is responsible for providing specialist policing capabilities, including national security and counter-terrorism operations. The Specialist Operations directorate is currently led by Assistant Commissioner Matt Jukes.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England.
Michael Fuller, also known as Mike Fuller, is a former Chief Constable of Kent Police and Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service. He was the first ethnic minority chief constable in the United Kingdom and the first black officer of chief constable-equivalent rank.
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.
The Homicide and Major Crime Command is an Operational Command Unit of the Metropolitan Police responsible for the investigation of homicide and other serious crimes in London. Most of their work was carried out by major investigation teams (MITs), of which there were 24. It was formerly known as the Homicide and Serious Crime Command.
Forensic Services is a unit of the Metropolitan Police of London, England. Part of the Specialist Crime Directorate, their duties range from evidence recovery following burglaries to anti-terrorism work. It is divided into six units:
The Metropolitan Police of Greater London, England is organised into five main directorates, each headed by an Assistant Commissioner, and four civilian-staffed support departments previously under the umbrella of Met Headquarters, each headed by a Chief Officer, the equivalent civilian grade to Assistant Commissioner. Each business groups or directorate has differing responsibilities. The commands are Frontline Policing, Met Operations, Specialist Operations and Professionalism.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) is a national law enforcement agency in the United Kingdom. It is the UK's lead agency against organised crime; human, weapon and drug trafficking; cybercrime; and economic crime that goes across regional and international borders, but it can be tasked to investigate any crime. The NCA has a strategic role as part of which it looks at serious crime in aggregate across the UK, especially analysing how organised criminals are operating and how they can be disrupted. To do this, it works closely with regional organised crime units (ROCUs), local police forces, and other government departments and agencies.
Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old black British man, was shot dead by police in Tottenham, North London on 4 August 2011. The Metropolitan Police stated that officers were attempting to arrest Duggan on suspicion of planning an attack and that he was in possession of a handgun. Duggan died from a gunshot wound to the chest. The circumstances of Duggan's death resulted in public protests in Tottenham, which led to conflict with police and escalated into riots across London and other English cities.
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 down of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.
Met Operations, also known as Met Ops, is one of the eight business groups which forms the Metropolitan Police Service and is responsible for providing operational support services. It was created during the 2018-19 restructuring of the service, amalgamating many of its functions from the Operations side of the Specialist Crime & Operations Directorate formed in 2012, with the Specialist Crime side of that Directorate placed under the new Frontline Policing Directorate. The group is currently led by Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist.
Dame Lynne Gillian Owens, is a senior police officer in the United Kingdom. She was made interim Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service in September 2022 before being confirmed as that role's permanent holder in February 2023, the first-ever such female holder.
Jermaine Baker was shot dead by a Metropolitan Police officer in Wood Green, London on 11 December 2015. Baker, who was unarmed, was shot during a police operation to prevent a suspected plot to free two prisoners being transported to Wood Green Crown Court. Baker's death led to an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which was continued by its successor body the Independent Office for Police Conduct, and a criminal investigation which did not result in criminal charges being brought against the officer who shot Baker. A public inquiry into Baker's death launched in June 2021 and reported in July 2022, finding that the police operation in which Baker was killed had involved a series of failings, but that Baker's killing was nonetheless lawful.