Police

History

Novelist and magistrate who set up the Bow Street Runners in 1749		Henry Fielding
Metropolitan Police established		1829
Founder of the Metropolitan Police – the first modern police force – in 1829, when Home Secretary; Prime Minister 1841–6		Sir Robert Peel

Ranks

Most senior rank in the Metropolitan Police		Commissioner
Rank only used in the Met (Adam Dalglish is a fictional one)		Commander
Rank immediately above Chief Inspector		Superintendent

Acronyms

ACPO		Association of Chief Police Officers
AFIS		Automated Fingerprint Identification System
NPCC (replaced ACPO in 2015)		National Police Chiefs' Council
PACE		Police and Criminal Evidence (Act)
SOCO		Scene of Crime Officer
TWOC		Taking without owner's consent

UK Police Forces

Nickname of the special force deployed in Ireland, 1920		Black and Tans
Nickname of Britain's first (professional) police force: formed in 1749 by magistrate and novelist Henry Fielding, merged into the Metropolitan Police in 1839		Bow Street Runners
London police forces: Metropolitan and		City of London
Flying Squad reorganised in 1978 as		Central Robbery Squad
New UK police force, established in October 2013 to replace the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) – described as "a British FBI"		National Crime Agency (NCA)
Headquarters of the Metropolitan Police; for many years (from 1934 until the 1960s) its telephone number was Whitehall 1212		New Scotland Yard
Nickname of the black and white chequered pattern worn by police officers (after the Glasgow Chief Constable who introduced it in 1932)		Sillitoe Tartan
Full name of the Metropolitan Police unit SO 19		Tactical Firearms Unit

Overseas Police Forces

Commonly–used name for South Africa's security police bureau, established 1969 – replaced in 1980 after the so–called Muldergate Scandal, when the National Party was implicated in plans to use government funds for its own propaganda purposes.  (The actual name of the bureau was the South African Bureau for State Security)		BOSS
Russia's first state security organisation – established by Lenin December 1917 – a forerunner of the KGB		Cheka
Chief investigative branch of the US Department of Justice		Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Israel's secret police		Mossad
Secret police force of the Russian Empire, established 1880		Okhrana
Secret police agency of Romania, 1948–89		Securitate
Commonly–used name for the East German state security organisation		Stasi
Investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against Jimmy Savile and others (2012–15)		Operation Yewtree

Commissioners of the Police of the Metropolis (selected)

In practice, you're unlikely to get asked about any of these apart from the current incumbent. But this is a very high–profile public office, so you never know when they might come up. These are basically the ones that I remember the names of.

These were all (with the exception of the sole female incumbent, who is a Dame) knighted at some point; a knighthood (or damehood) more or less comes with the job.

1972–7	The first to rise from the lowest rank – as all his successors to date did; dealt with the Balcombe Street Siege and the Knightsbridge Spaghetti House Siege; introduced the Special Patrol Group; resigned following a public disagreement with Home Secretary Roy Jenkins over the Police Act 1976 and the introduction of an independent police complaints body		Robert Mark
1977–82	Born in Glasgow; dealt with the Iranian Embassy siege, the Brixton riots (1981), the Buckingham Palace incident (Michael Fagan), and Operation Countryman (an investigation into corruption in the City of London and Metropolitan forces)		David McNee
1982–7	Previously, as Chief Constable of the RUC, oversaw its establishment as the dominant security force in Northern Ireland (rather than the British Army); initiated a major reform and restructure of the Met		Kenneth Newman
1993–2000	Oversaw the Stephen Lawrence case, and the funeral of Princess Diana; attracted controversy by stating that most muggers are black; Mohammed Al Fayed alleged that he withheld evidence from the French inquiry into Diana's death; after retirement, assisted Jamaican Police in their inquiry into the death (in suspicious circumstances) of Pakistan's cricket coach, Bob Woolmer		Paul Condon
2005–8	Dealt with the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes; forced to apologise to the parents of the Soham murder victims, after citing that case as an example of the "institutional racism" of the British media		Ian Blair
2008–11	Resigned over speculation regarding his connection with Neil Wallis, Editor of the News of the World, who was suspected of involvement in the News International phone hacking scandal		Paul Stephenson
2011–17	Oversaw Operation Yewtree (the investigation into the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal) and Operation Midland (the into allegations by Carl Beech – 'code name' "Nick") of sex abuse and murder by several high–profile men)		Bernard Hogan–Howe
2017–22	First woman to hold the post; came out as a lesbian in the year of her appointment; previously headed the operation that led to the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes; accused of obstructing the investigation (2013–21) into the murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan in 1987; resigned in 2022 after losing the confidence of Mayor Sadiq Khan over her handling of racism and misogyny in the force		Cressida Dick
2022 to date	Former Chief Constable of Surrey (2009–11): came out of retirement to succeed the above		Mark Rowley

Other

Domestic appliance that gives its name to a controversial police tactic, also known as containment or corralling

Kettle

© Haydn Thompson 2017–24