Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection (PaDP) is a branch of the Protection Command within the Specialist Operations directorate of London's Metropolitan Police Service. [1]
Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection (PaDP) is a branch of the Protection Command within the Specialist Operations directorate of London's Metropolitan Police Service. [1]
A unit of the Metropolitan Police Service, PaDP is responsible for providing officers (armed and unarmed) to protect the Palace of Westminster, which contains the Houses of Parliament; it protects government ministers and provides advice on threat levels. [2] Within PaDP is a Parliamentary Liaison and Investigation Team (PLaIT), which is responsible for coordinating with local police forces and with the Parliamentary Security Department (PSD) that reports to the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords. [2] In addition, PaDP is responsible for security at Downing Street, which is home to the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer. [3]
PaDP is also responsible for the protection of diplomatic missions in the UK, consistent with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (which requires that a host country protect embassies and consulates, while preserving their inviolability). [4] PaDP provides armed and unarmed security in both police cars and foot patrols, and uniformed and plainclothes operations. [4]
PaDP was created in April 2015 through a merger of the Metropolitan Police Service's Diplomatic Protection Group (SO16) and the Palace of Westminster Division (SO17). [5] [6] It is the largest armed police unit in the UK. [7]
The Diplomatic Protection Group (DPG) was originally formed in November 1974 as a branch of the Metropolitan Police Service devoted to the protection of diplomatic missions in Central London. [8] DPG officers were also assigned to support security operations for royal weddings, state visits, and other special events. [8] The group was elevated to a command in 1979. [8]
The Palace of Westminster Division (SO17) was a branch of the Specialist Operations Directorate within the Metropolitan Police Service. In accordance with a contract and Special Service Agreement with Parliament, SO17 was responsible for security at the Palace of Westminster and the rest of the Parliamentary Estate. [9]
On 27 December 1972, police constable (PC) Peter Slimon, en route to his post protecting the Jordanian embassy, ran across an attempted bank robbery in progress at the National Westminster Bank at Kensington High Street. A gun battle ensued (a very rare event in London at that time). Slimon fatally shot one bank robber and wounded another; Slimon was himself wounded by gunfire. [10] [11] Slimon was awarded the George Medal for "outstanding resolution, devotion to duty and courage of a very high order" in tackling the robbers. [12]
During the Iranian Embassy siege of 1980, PC Trevor Lock was taken hostage along with the embassy staff. The British Army's Special Air Service rescued the hostages six days later. [8]
PC Keith Palmer, who was murdered in the line of duty in a terrorist stabbing attack in 2017 in New Palace Yard, was a member of PaDP. [13]
In early 2021, PC Wayne Couzens, who then served with PaDP, [14] used his warrant card to arrest Sarah Everard under the pretence of her having breached the COVID-19 regulations then in effect. He then drove her to the outskirts of Dover where he raped her and then strangled her with his police duty belt. He later burned and disposed of her remains in a pond in Great Chart. Couzens received a whole life order (meaning that he will serve his life sentence without the possibility of parole) for the murder, with the judge explaining that the case was especially serious given the breach of trust involved. [15]
Three days after Couzens was jailed, [16] PC David Carrick, a serving member of PaDP [17] was charged with one count of rape following an alleged attack on a woman on the night of 4 September 2021. [18] On 24 November 2021 and 10 January 2022, he was subsequently charged with a further dozen counts of rape (and sixteen of related offences) alleged to have occurred between 2009 and 2018 against seven other women. [19] On 17 March 2022, Carrick was charged with a further twelve offences, some related to new complainants, that allegedly took place between 2003 and 2015. [20] Separately, on 18 March 2022, Wayne Couzens was additionally charged with four counts of indecent exposure related to alleged incidents in January and February 2021, which the Independent Office for Police Conduct had previously determined where inadequately investigated by police. [21] In his first appearance before the Home Affairs Select Committee in April 2022, Acting Metropolitan Police Commissioner Stephen House said an inquiry into PDaP's culture had found the unit suffered from a lack of supervision. [22]
In November 2022, Carrick had an additional nine sex offence charges added to the 44 he was already facing, bringing the total of alleged offences to 21 counts of rape, nine counts of sexual assault, five counts of assault by penetration, three counts of coercive and controlling behaviour, two counts of false imprisonment, two counts of attempted rape, one count of attempted sexual assault by penetration, and a further count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. [23] On 16 January 2023, while appearing at Southwark Crown Court, Carrick pleaded guilty to 49 offences against 12 women, including 24 counts of rape, which were committed between 2003 and 2020. [24]
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.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. The AFP is an independent agency of the Attorney-General's Department and is responsible to the Attorney-General and accountable to the Parliament of Australia. As of October 2019 the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police is Reece Kershaw, formerly the Northern Territory Police Commissioner.
The murder of Yvonne Fletcher, a Metropolitan Police officer, occurred on 17 April 1984, when she was fatally wounded by a shot fired from the Libyan embassy on St James's Square, London, by an unknown gunman. Fletcher had been deployed to monitor a demonstration against the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and died shortly afterwards. Her death resulted in an eleven-day siege of the embassy, at the end of which those inside were expelled from the country and the United Kingdom severed diplomatic relations with Libya.
His Majesty's Prison Belmarsh is a Category A men's prison in Thamesmead, southeast London, England. The prison is used in high-profile cases, particularly those concerning national security. Within the prison grounds is the High Security Unit (HSU), which consists of 48 single cells. It is run by His Majesty's Prison Service. The prison has been called "Britain's Guantanamo Bay" due to the long-term detention of terrorism suspects without charge.
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.
The Specialist Operations directorate is a unit of the Metropolitan Police of London, UK 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.
Dame Cressida Rose Dick is a retired British police officer who served as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2017 to 2022. She is both the first female and first openly lesbian officer to lead London's Metropolitan Police Service.
The Embassy of the United States of America in London is the diplomatic mission of the United States in the United Kingdom. It is located in Nine Elms and is the largest American embassy in Western Europe and the focal point for events relating to the United States held in the United Kingdom.
Sir Adrian Bruce Fulford is a retired Lord Justice of Appeal. From 2017 to 2019, he was the first Investigatory Powers Commissioner, and was the Vice-President of the Court of Appeal in 2019, succeeding Lady Justice Hallett.
The Aviation Policing Command (APC) now renamed as Aviation Security Operational Unit (SO18) is a Specialist Operations unit of London's Metropolitan Police Service. The unit is responsible for providing policing and security for both Heathrow and London City airports. London's other airports, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton are policed by Sussex, Essex, and Bedfordshire Police respectively, as they are not located in the Metropolitan Police District.
The Protection Command is one of the commands within the Specialist Operations directorate of London's Metropolitan Police Service. The command specialises in protective security and has two branches: Royalty and Specialist Protection (RaSP), providing protection to the royal family and close protection to government officials, and Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection (PaDP), providing uniformed security to government buildings, officials and diplomats. In contrast with the vast majority of British police officers, many members of the Protection Command routinely carry firearms in the course of their duties and all are authorised firearms officers.
The history of the Metropolitan Police in London is long and complex, with many different events taking place between its inception in 1829 and the present day.
The Metropolitan Police of Greater London, England is organised into four 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.
On 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack took place outside the Palace of Westminster in London, seat of the British Parliament. Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old Briton, drove a car into pedestrians on the pavement along the south side of Westminster Bridge and Bridge Street, injuring more than 50 people, four of them fatally. He then crashed the car into the perimeter fence of the palace grounds and ran into New Palace Yard, where he fatally stabbed an unarmed police officer. He was then shot by an armed police officer, and died at the scene.
Keith David Palmer was a British police officer who was posthumously awarded the George Medal, the second-highest award for gallantry "not in the face of the enemy". Though unarmed, he stopped Khalid Masood, a knife-wielding terrorist from entering the Palace of Westminster during the 2017 Westminster attack; he was fatally wounded in the attack. He had worked for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) for 16 years, and had joined the force's Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Group in April 2016.
On 14 August 2018, three people were injured when a silver Ford Fiesta hit them near the Palace of Westminster, London, England. The car then went on to crash into the separation barrier of the pavement situated between St Margaret Street / Abingdon Street and Old Palace Yard. The Metropolitan Police responded within seconds and arrested the driver, Salih Khater, without further incident. An ambulance immediately behind the Ford stopped and gave assistance to the injured. Khater was subsequently found guilty of two counts of attempted murder and sentenced to life in prison.
On the evening of 3 March 2021, 33-year-old Sarah Everard was kidnapped in South London, England, as she was walking home to the Brixton Hill area from a friend's house near Clapham Common. She was stopped by off-duty Metropolitan Police constable Wayne Couzens who identified himself as a police officer, handcuffed her, and placed her in his car before driving her to near Dover where he raped and strangled her, before burning her body and disposing of her remains in a nearby pond.
David Carrick is an English serial rapist and former police officer who worked for the Metropolitan Police. He joined the police force in 2001 and worked as an armed police officer in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection from 2009 until his initial suspension and subsequent sacking from his position.
Institutional sexism in the Metropolitan Police has been reported since female officers first joined in 1919, with particular attention given to the issue since 2021.
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