Gold-silver-bronze command structure

A gold–silver–bronze command structure is a command hierarchy used for major operations by the emergency services of the United Kingdom.

Some practitioners use the term strategic–tactical–operational command structure instead, but the different categories are equivalent. In some cases, the government (through COBR) assumes ultimate control and acts as a "platinum" level.

The three roles are not restricted to any rank, though invariably the chain of command will be the same as the order of rank. Whilst the gold–silver–bronze command structure was designed for responding to sudden major incidents, it has been utilised for all manner of planned operations, such as football matches, or firearms operations, such as Operation Kratos.

The structure was created by the Metropolitan Police Service, as a direct response to the Broadwater Farm riot. The riot broke out in North London on 6 October 1985 and led to the murder of PC Keith Blakelock.

The Metropolitan Police realised that their usual rank-based command system was inappropriate for sudden events. For example, it was never clear who was actually in operational charge of the police response on the night of the riot. A small team, including Inspector Peter Power, quickly decided that three essential roles were more important than numerous ranks in these situations. They set about creating and implementing a new structure that could be used. The "Gold–silver–bronze" naming was coined by David Stevens, a Chief Superintendent in the Public Order Branch who also worked on Power's team.

The structure soon spread to other police forces and to other emergency services. Though originally devised for the response to sudden incidents, it has also been used for pre-planned operations.

The concept of operational, tactical and strategic command levels has been in existence for many years, only the titles have changed. The concept and explanations of it have been reinforced since the introduction of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. The so-called "platinum" title is not widely acknowledged. It was debated during the early years of the CCA but discounted. The level above Gold used to include regional government offices as a conduit to Westminster until they were disbanded as part of the Coalition reviews.

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