Special Branch was a unit in the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

in London, formed as a counter-terrorism unit in 1883 and merged with another unit to form Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) in 2006. It maintained contact with the Security Service and had responsibility for, among other things, personal protection of (non-royal) VIPs and performing the role of examining officer at designated ports and airports, as prescribed by the

Terrorism Act 2000 The Terrorism Act 2000 (c.11) is the first of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It superseded and repealed the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 and the Northern Ireland (Emer ...

History

In response to the escalating terror campaign in Britain carried out by the militant Irish Fenians in the 1880s, the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

Sir William Harcourt Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt (14 October 1827 – 1 October 1904) was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He served as Member of Parliament for Oxford, Derby then West Monmouthshire and held the offices ...

established the first counter-terrorism unit ever in 1883, named Special Irish Branch, to combat Irish republican terrorism through infiltration and subversion. It initially formed a section of the Criminal Investigation Department within the London Metropolitan Police. Harcourt envisioned a permanent unit dedicated to the prevention of politically motivated violence through the use of modern techniques such as undercover infiltration. This pioneering branch was the first to be trained in counter-terrorism techniques. Its name was changed to Special Branch as it had its remit gradually expanded to incorporate a general role in counter-terrorism, combating foreign subversion, and infiltrating

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

and trades unions, becoming the largest

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

in the United Kingdom. Although it later became independent of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), its officers were entitled to use the prefix "Detective" in front of their ranks. Special Branch investigated the General Post Office Tower bombing in 1971 and the following year the investigative wing of its "X squad" became the Anti-Terrorist Branch (SO13). It also investigated the sieges at

Balcombe Street The Balcombe Street siege was an incident involving members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and London's Metropolitan Police lasting from 6 to 12 December 1975. The siege ended with the surrender of the four IRA members and the r ...

in 1975, the Iranian Embassy in 1980 and the

Libyan Embassy This is a list of diplomatic missions of Libya. Under the rule of Muammar al-Gaddafi, Libya broke practice with almost all other countries in 1979 by renaming their embassies "People's Bureaus", with the diplomatic staff known as a local "revo ...

in 1984, along with the bombings at Hyde Park and Regents Park in 1982,

Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...

in 1983,

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

in 1984 and

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate gave its name to the Bishopsgate Ward of the City of London. The ward is traditionally divided into ''Bishopsgate Within'', inside the line wall, and ''Bishop ...

in 1993. The Nezar Hindawi attempted bombing of El Al flight from Heathrow to Israel in 1986 was also investigated by Special Branch, along with

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

mortar attacks on Downing Street in 1991 and

Heathrow Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...

in 1994 and their Canary Wharf bomb in 1996. Beyond that campaign, it led the investigations into the racist and homophobic

1999 London nail bombings The 1999 London nail bombings were a series of bomb explosions in London, England. Over three successive weekends between 17 and 30 April 1999, homemade nail bombs were detonated respectively in Brixton in South London; at Brick Lane, Spitalfield ...

along with Richard Reid in 2001 and the bombings and attempted bombings in London in July 2005. The formation of SO13 had begun a process which on 2 October 2006 culminated in Special Branch and SO13 merging to form Counter Terrorism Command (SO15).

Commanding Officers

Notes

References

{{reflist 1883 establishments in England 2006 disestablishments in England Defunct Metropolitan Police units Defunct United Kingdom intelligence agencies Counterterrorism in the United Kingdom