Metropolitan Police Service | |
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Common name | The Met Police |
Abbreviation | MPS |
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Motto | Total Policing |
Agency overview | |
Formed | 29 September 1829 |
Preceding agencies | |
Employees | 48,661 (total) 32,125 police officers 9,521 police staff 1,626 PCSOs |
Volunteers | 3,271 special constables 1,500 Met Police volunteers 3,658 volunteer police cadets |
Annual budget | £3.24 billion |
Legal personality | Non government: Police force |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction* | Police area of Metropolitan Police District in the country of Greater London, UK |
Map of police area | |
Size | 1,578 km2 (609 sq mi) |
Population | 8.5 million |
Legal jurisdiction |
England and Wales (throughout the whole of the United Kingdom, including Scotland and Northern Ireland, under certain limited circumstances) |
Primary governing body | Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime |
Secondary governing body | Home Office |
Constituting instruments | |
General nature | |
Operational structure | |
Overviewed by | Home Office/HMIC/IPCC |
Headquarters | New Scotland Yard |
Police officers | 32,125 full time 3,271 special constables |
PCSOs | 1,626 |
Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime responsible | Sophie Linden |
Agency executives |
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Facilities | |
Stations | 180 |
Boats | 22 |
Helicopters | 3 |
Dogs | 250 |
Website | |
www.met.police.uk | |
Footnotes | |
* Police area agency: Prescribed geographic area in the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. |
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly the Metropolitan Police, and also formerly semi-formally called the Metropolitan Police Force, and informally referred to as the Met Police, is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London, which is the responsibility of the City of London Police.
The Met also has significant national responsibilities, such as co-ordinating and leading on UK-wide national counter-terrorism matters, and the protection of the senior members of the British Royal Family, and also members of The Cabinet and other ministerial members of Her Majesty's Government.
As of March 2016, the Met employed 48,661 full-time personnel. This included 32,125 sworn police officers, 9,521 police staff, and 1,626 non-sworn police community support officers. This number excludes the 3,271 Special Constables, who work part-time (a minimum of 16 hours a month) and who have the same powers and uniform as their regular colleagues. This makes the Metropolitan Police the largest police force in the United Kingdom by a significant margin, and one of the biggest in the world.
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, usually known as the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and commonly also known simply as the Commissioner, is the overall operational leader of the force, and the Commissioner is answerable, responsible and accountable to The Queen, the Home Office and the Mayor of London, through the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime.