Military police of the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the phrase military police is normally used to describe two main types of police: service police and regimental provosts. There are a number of civilian police forces whose role is to police other parts of the Defence Estate in the UK and overseas, but such forces are not correctly included in the term military police.

Service police

In the UK, Service Police^[1] is a term used to describe the sections of the British Armed Forces responsible for policing the members of the armed forces. They are comparable to the provosts of other countries, however the term 'provost' in the UK has various uses including reference to the staff of military prisons and senior service police officers (e.g. the Provost Marshal). Each of the services has its own service police branch, a standalone unit responsible for policing, close protection of VIPs^[2] and, in the case of the Royal Military Police and Royal Air Force Police; other matters such as traffic control.^[3][4]

• The Royal Navy is policed by the Royal Navy Police, members of which are traditionally referred to as Regulators (or Master-at-Arms if a Chief Petty Officer or Warrant Officer).
  • The Royal Navy Police also has Royal Marines specialising as Service Policemen. Prior to 2009 the Royal Marines Police was an independent organisation within the Corps.

• The British Army is policed by the Royal Military Police (often known as 'Redcaps') and by Regimental Provost (often mistakenly called Regimental Police),^[5] who belong to individual regiments or corps.

• The Royal Air Force is policed by the Royal Air Force Police. They are often known as 'Snowdrops' on account of their white caps^[6] as opposed to the normal Royal Air Force blue caps.

Jurisdiction in respect of civilians

Main article: Civilian subject to service discipline

Service police officers are not constables^[7] and have powers over non-service personnel in very few cases.^[8][9] In some areas, service police patrol alongside ordinary police officers from local territorial police forces. London's Soho is one example of this, in addition to various military towns such as Aldershot Garrison (where there are numerous barracks) and also in Plymouth due to its proximity to HMNB Devonport.^{[10][unreliable source?]} During these joint patrols service police may sometimes assist territorial police officers, and may take arrested service personnel back to their respective establishment.^{[10][unreliable source?]}

Training

Main article: Defence College of Policing and Guarding

All service police receive their trade training at the Defence College of Policing and Guarding, and utilise the Service Police Crime Bureau operated by the RNP, RMP and RAFP. Each of the service police branches has its own Special Investigation Branch to undertake investigation of more serious crime and plain-clothes investigations.

Provosts

The British military prison at Colchester is operated by the Military Provost Staff Corps, an all-senior NCO corps which only recruits from serving personnel. The staff of the Military Provost Staff Corps are known as provosts, but should not be confused with regimental provosts who fulfill a different function.

Regimental provosts

In addition to being policed by the Royal Military Police the British Army has Regimental Provosts, who are members of individual regiments or corps with responsibility for policing only within their own unit. Members of the Regimental Provost can be identified by the brassards they wear, which carry the letters "RP". They have the power to arrest soldiers of the same or lesser rank under the Army Act 1955. Their primary purpose is to enforce breaches of service discipline at a local level.

Civilian police forces

There are several civil police forces responsible to the Ministry of Defence. They each have specific roles and are staffed by police officers who are not part of the armed forces, thus they are not military police.

• The Ministry of Defence Police is a branch of the Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency which was formed by the merger of the Ministry of Defence Police and Ministry of Defence Guard Service on April 1, 2004. It is responsible for providing Police, Investigative and Guarding services to Ministry of Defence property, personnel, and installations throughout the United Kingdom.

• The Sovereign Base Areas Police provide policing services for both the Eastern and Western Sovereign Base Areas of Cyprus.

• The Gibraltar Defence Police provide policing services on Ministry of Defence land and waters in Gibraltar.^[11]

References

1. ^ "The Armed Forces (Service Police Amendments) Order 2007". OPSI. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2007/uksi_20071861_en_1. 
2. ^ "EX LONGLOOK 06". http://www.defence.gov.au/army/RACMP/LONGLOOK.htm. "The second phase of my exchange was spent on the RMP CP course. From the start I have to say that it was one of the best and hardest courses I have ever attempted. Unfortunately I was unsuccessful on the course, failing on the last day, but the experiences gained from the course have been invaluable. The hours spent running up the hills around Longmoor camp were well worth it." 
3. ^ "A Short History of the 174th Provost Company Corps of Royal Military Police". http://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/proRmpUnit_174_3rmp.pdf. "Initially 174 Provost Company originated during the Second World War, having been formed in 1942 to control several ports in the North East of England, where it was responsible for military traffic control and troop movement." 
4. ^ "Role of the RMP". http://www.army.mod.uk/agc/provost/13315.aspx. "In addition to investigative support the RMP also have a distinct operational role to undertake. This is to regulate, to protect and to inform. The RMP on operations are enablers as they regulate the battlefield and move the Army forward and rearwards, in war and in support operations. Whilst some RMP companies are attached to the fighting brigades others work in the complicated rear and divisional areas. The RMP are required to make sure the Army gets to where it needs to be." 
5. ^ "The Deepcut Report". http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc0506/hc07/0795/0795.pdf. "I cannot remember whether it was Sergeant [B] or an RP [Regimental Provost] that punched him.... Regimental Provost is also sometimes referred to as ‘Regimental Police’ but are concerned with provost and security duties within the Regiment and are not to be confused with the RMP." 
6. ^ "AP 1358, Chapter 1, General Instructions". http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafcms/mediafiles/96453EF0_ABE4_1A8E_F5DFFE866A594026.pdf. 
7. ^ "Role of the RMP". http://www.army.mod.uk/agc/provost/13315.aspx. Retrieved 28 March 2011. 
8. ^ "Army Act 1955, part VI, section 209". http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/3-4/18/section/209. Retrieved 28 March 2011. 
9. ^ "Army Act 1955, part VI, section 208A". http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/3-4/18/section/208A. Retrieved 28 March 2011. 
10. ^ ^{a b} "Episode 3". Soho Blues, Five. 2009-02-12.
11. ^ Section 78, Police Act 2006