Metropolitan Special Constabulary

The Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC) is the part-time volunteer police force of the Metropolitan Police Service. It is one of three Special Constabularies operating within London, the others belonging to City of London Police and British Transport Police. The MSC was created over 180 years ago under the Special Constables Act of 1831 and currently consists of 3,271(as of March 2016) officers, making it the largest in the UK.

Officers of the MSC hold the 'Office of Constable' and therefore have full powers and privileges of a Police Officer throughout England and Wales, both on and off duty. They wear the same uniform and engage in the same work as regular police officers, such as foot & vehicle patrols (whether alone, with another special constable or with a regular police officer), attending incidents, specific operations and the policing of major events.

Special Constables are required to undertake a minimum of 200 hours of operational duties every year, spread over a minimum of 16 hours per month. However, many do more than the basic requirement.

Each Borough Operational Command Unit (BOCU) which provides policing for each of the 32 London boroughs has a contingent of Special Constables, usually supervised by a number of Special Sergeants and a Special Inspector, on occasion in partnership with a regular officer . Some BOCUs may have as many as 150 MSC officers, Westminster has over 300, the vast majority have closer to 80 officers.

A number of Specials are sponsored by their employers as part of the Employer Supported Policing (ESP) scheme, in which employers release their employees for a specific amount of time every fortnight to perform MSC duties.

...
Wikipedia