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 the ceremonial county of Greater London. In addition, it is responsible for specialised tasks throughout the United Kingdom, such as UK counter-terrorism measures, 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. Its present headquarters are near there at New Scotland Yard on the Victoria Embankment.
Thames Valley Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley region, 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.
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.
The New South Wales Police Force is a law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia, established in 1862. With more than 17,000 police officers, it is the largest police organisation in Australia, policing an area of 801,600 square kilometres with a population of more than 8.2 million people.
The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto of "Firmness with Courtesy" was changed to "With Honour We Serve". The headquarters of the Queensland Police Service is located at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.
Avon and Somerset Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in the five unitary authority areas of Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, Somerset, and South Gloucestershire, all in South West England.
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).
The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is a municipal police force in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the primary agency responsible for providing law enforcement and policing services in Toronto. Established in 1834, it was the first local police service created in North America and is one of the oldest police services in the English-speaking world.
The Transit Enforcement Unit is a special constabulary maintained by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. First established in 1997, the Unit consists of special constables and provincial offences officers, referred to internally as transit fare inspectors. The unit's special constables have the full powers of a police power on or in relation to TTC property, and, as of 2023, the unit employs 101 special constables out of an authorized complement of 145.
The Ottawa Police Service is the municipal police service of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, as well as most of the Ontario side of the National Capital Region. The OPS employs 1,480 officers and 620 staff as of 2022, and serves an area of 2,790 square kilometres and 1,017,449 people, alongside several other police forces which have specialized jurisdiction. Formally established in 1855, the OPS gradually absorbed the police forces of other neighbouring municipalities as Ottawa itself expanded, and experienced multiple mergers and reforms in the process; the current OPS was established in 2001.
The Victoria Police Department (VicPD) is the municipal police force for the City of Victoria and the Township of Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada. It is the oldest municipal police department in Canada west of the Great Lakes, the first Canadian law enforcement agency to deploy tasers and VicPD created the first digital forensic unit in the country. They are also one of the few police departments in Canada to use the G36 rifle.
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.
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 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.
Law enforcement in Canada is the responsibility of police services, special constabularies, and civil law enforcement agencies, which are operated by every level of government, some private and Crown corporations, and First Nations. In contrast to the United States or Mexico, and with the exception of the Unité permanente anticorruption in Quebec and the Organized Crime Agency of British Columbia, there are no organizations dedicated exclusively to the investigation of criminal activity in Canada. Criminal investigations are instead conducted by police services, which maintain specialized criminal investigation units in addition to their mandate for emergency response and general community safety.
Police uniforms and equipment in the United Kingdom vary enormously per force or service, and different uniforms and equipment is used for different situations. Both what is worn and what is carried have varied considerably from the inception of the earliest recognisable mainstream police services in the early 19th century. As various laws in the mid-19th century standardised policing in the United Kingdom, so too were uniforms and equipment. From a variety of home grown uniforms, bicycles, swords and pistols the British police force evolved in look and equipment through the long coats and top hat, to the recognisable modern uniform of a white shirt, black tie, reflective jackets, body armour, and the battenburg-marked vehicles, to the present-day Airwave Solutions radios, electric vehicles and tasers.
National Police Corps, colloquially in English as Dutch National Police or National Police Force, is divided in ten regional units, two national units, the police academy, police services center, and national dispatch center cooperation. The law-enforcement purposes of these agencies are the investigation of suspected criminal activity, referral of the results of investigations to the courts, and the temporary detention of suspected criminals pending judicial action. Law enforcement agencies, to varying degrees at different levels of government and in different agencies, are also commonly charged with the responsibilities of deterring criminal activity and preventing the successful commission of crimes in progress. The police commissioner in the Netherlands is Janny Knol since March 1, 2024.
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.
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.
