The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

, including

Commonwealth countries The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 56 sovereign states. Most of them were British colonies or dependencies of those colonies. No one government in the Commonwealth exercises power over the others, as is the case in a po ...

, most of which now have their own honours systems. The medal was established on 7 July 1909 as the King's Police Medal (KPM), initially inspired by the need to recognise the gallantry of the police officers involved in the

Tottenham Outrage The Tottenham Outrage of 23 January 1909 was an armed robbery in Tottenham, North London, that resulted in a two-hour chase between the police and armed criminals over a distance of , with an estimated 400 rounds of ammunition fired by the thie ...

. Renamed the King's Police and Fire Services Medal (KPFSM) in 1940, it was replaced on 19 May 1954 by the Queen's Police Medal (QPM), when a separate

Queen's Fire Service Medal __NOTOC__ The King's Fire Service Medal, introduced in 1954, is awarded to members of the fire services in the United Kingdom for distinguished service or gallantry. It was also formerly awarded by Commonwealth countries, most of which now have t ...

was also instituted. The current award was renamed the King's Police Medal following the death of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in 2022 and the accession of

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

to the throne of the United Kingdom. Between 1909 and 1979, the medal was bestowed 4,070 times, for both gallantry and distinguished service, including dominion and empire awards. A total 54 bars and one second bar were awarded in this period.

History

King's Police Medal

The original KPM, despite its name, was also be awarded to members of recognised fire brigades. It was originally intended that the medal should be awarded once a year, to no more than 120 recipients, with a maximum of: 40 from the United Kingdom and Crown dependencies; 30 from the

dominions The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, Dominion of New Zealand, New Zealand, Dominion of Newfoundland, Newfoundland, Un ...

; and 50 from the

Indian Empire The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

. More could be awarded in exceptional circumstances. Those who received a further award were to wear a silver bar on the ribbon in lieu of a further issue, or a rosette where the ribbon alone was worn. Initially recipients were required to have shown: Provision was also made for the forfeiture of the award in the event of a recipient later being convicted of a criminal offence. Minor amendments to the warrant were made on 3 October 1916. On 1 October 1930, changes were made to the forfeiture provisions, no longer specifying grounds for forfeiture, but also allowing the medal to be restored again. The 1932 New Year Honours list specified those medals awarded for gallantry. On 27 December 1933, the warrant was officially amended to introduce distinctions as to whether the medal was awarded for gallantry or for distinguished service, by adding an appropriate inscription to the reverse, and adding a central red stripe to the ribbon for gallantry awards. The award criteria were changed so recipients had: In 1936, amendments of 25 May gave greater provision for territories to opt to award their own equivalent medals. Further minor amendments were made on 15 December.

King's Police and Fire Services Medal

On 6 September 1940, the name was changed to the King's Police and Fire Services Medal to better reflect the eligibility of fire service personnel. There was no longer any limit on the number to be awarded in one year. The last award of the medal for gallantry to a living recipient was in 1950, after which time it was awarded only posthumously.

Queen's Police Medal

In a warrant of 19 May 1954 the current version of the medal, named the Queen's Police Medal was introduced; at the same time a separate medal for the fire service was created, the

. The most common form of the current award is the Queen's Police Medal for Distinguished Service. The Queen's Police Medal for Gallantry, which can only be awarded posthumously, has only been awarded 34 times since 1954 and has not been awarded since 1977, since which time the

Queen's Gallantry Medal The Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM) is a United Kingdom decoration awarded for exemplary acts of bravery where the services were not so outstanding as to merit the George Medal, but above the level required for the Queen's Commendation for Braver ...

can also be awarded posthumously. Acts of gallantry in the police service normally now attract the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically by civilians, or in circ ...

, Queen's Gallantry Medal or the

Queen's Commendation for Bravery The King's Commendation for Bravery and the King's Commendation for Bravery in the Air are United Kingdom awards,Special Constabulary The Special Constabulary is the part-time volunteer section of statutory police forces in the United Kingdom and some Crown dependencies. Its officers are known as special constables. Every United Kingdom territorial police force has a specia ...

in England and Wales became eligible for the medal, with members of the Special Constabulary in Scotland already eligible. Over time, many

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

countries have created their own police medals, replacing the issue of the QPM to police in those countries. For example, Australia created the

Australian Police Medal The Australian Police Medal (APM) is awarded for distinguished service by a member of an Australian police force. The APM was introduced in 1986, and replaced the Imperial Queen's Police Medal for Gallantry and Queen's Police Medal for Distinguis ...

in 1986. It did not supersede the QPM which continued to be awarded to Australians until 1989. On 5 October 1992, Australian Prime Minister,

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...

, announced that Australia would make no further recommendations for British honours. The Australian Order of Wear states that "all imperial British awards made to Australian citizens after 5 October 1992 are foreign awards and should be worn accordingly".

King's South African Medal (South African version)

The South Africa version was introduced in 1937, awarded on the same basis as the British medal. It had a similar design, but with differences in its inscriptions, including a bi-lingual reverse. A total of 30 medals for gallantry and 17 for distinguished service were bestowed, with the last award in 1960.

Post-nominal letters

Recipients may use the

post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...

QPM, KPM or KPFSM, as appropriate, although the right to use these was only granted officially on 20 July 1969.

Description

It is a circular silver medal, 36 mm in diameter, with the ribbon suspended from a ring. While the basic design has remained the same since 1909, there have been a number of changes. * The obverse has the profile of the reigning monarch with an appropriate inscription: File:King's Police Medal for Distinguished Service, Edward VII version.png, Edward VII, 1909-11 File:King's Police Medal, George V, 1st type, obverse.jpg, George V 1st type,
1911-31 File:King's Police Medal, George V, 2nd type, obverse.png, George V 2nd type
1931-37 File:George Medal, King George VI, first obverse.png, George VI, 1938-53. (Late issues omit 'INDIAE IMP') File:George Medal, Queen Elizabeth, second obverse.png, Elizabeth II, post 1954. (Early issues add 'BR: OMN') * The reverse depicts Saint Michael, patron Saint of Police officers, holding a sword and shield at rest depicting that whilst armed and ready, he prefers peace. The

exergue A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...

of the 1909 issue contains a laurel spray, but in 1933 this was replaced with the inscription ''For Distinguished Police Service'' or ''For Gallantry''. Since 1954 the distinguished service version has the wording inscribed around the edge of the medal, with a laurel spray in the exergue, the gallantry version remaining unchanged. * The name, rank and force of the recipient is inscribed on the rim of the medal. * The wide ribbon was originally dark blue with a silver stripe at each edge. In 1916 an additional central silver stripe was added with, from 1933, a thin red stripe down the middle of each silver stripe for awards for gallantry.

References

External links

ODM
of the UK

medal page {{Former Australian Honours Civil awards and decorations of the United Kingdom Law enforcement awards and honors Courage awards Awards established in 1909 1909 establishments in the United Kingdom