In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, the term military police refers to the three branches of the service police. Often, the term 'military police' is considered synonymous with the Army's

Royal Military Police The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of army service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK and while service personnel are deployed overseas on operations ...

, but in fact, has a wider context. There are a number of civilian police forces whose role is to police other parts of the Defence Estate in the UK and overseas, but such forces are not correctly referred to as military police.

Service police

In the UK, service police are the formations of the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

responsible for policing armed forces personnel. They are comparable to the provosts of other countries, however the term 'provost' in the UK has various uses including reference to the staff of

military prison A military prison is a prison operated by a military. Military prisons are used variously to house prisoners of war, unlawful combatants, those whose freedom is deemed a national security risk by the military or national authorities, and member ...

s and senior service police officers (e.g. the

Provost Marshal Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French ''prévost'' (Modern French ''prévôt''). While a provost marshal i ...

). Each of the services has its own service police branch, a standalone unit responsible for policing,

close protection A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, ...

of VIPs and, in the case of the Royal Military Police and

Royal Air Force Police The Royal Air Force Police (RAFP) is the service police branch of the Royal Air Force, headed by the provost marshal of the Royal Air Force. Its headquarters are at RAF Honington and it deploys throughout the world to support RAF and UK defenc ...

, other matters such as traffic control. * The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

is policed by the Royal Navy Police, members of which are traditionally referred to as Regulators (or

Master-at-Arms A Master-at-Arms (US: MA; UK & some Commonwealth: MAA) may be a naval rating, responsible for law enforcement, regulating duties, security, anti-terrorism/force protection (AT/FP) for/of a country's navy; an army officer responsible for physical ...

if a

Chief Petty Officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Canada "Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxiè ...

Warrant Officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mo ...

). The Royal Navy Police also has

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious warfare, amphibious light infantry and also one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighti ...

specialising as Service Policemen. Prior to 2009, the Royal Marines Police was an independent organisation within the Corps of Royal Marines. * The

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

is policed by the

. Enforcement of basic discipline within regiments is carried out by the Regimental Provost (sometimes incorrectly referred to as Regimental Police), who belong to individual regiments or corps. * The

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

is policed by the

who are responsible not only for the policing of service personnel, but also a number of specialist security roles such as physical security, cybersecurity and information security. The RAF Police are the only branch of the Service Police to still operate with working dogs. It%27s_a_Dogs_Life!_MOD_45159710

The

Special Investigation Branch Special Investigation Branch (SIB) was the name given to the detective branches of all three British military police arms: the Royal Navy Police, Royal Military Police and Royal Air Force Police. It was most closely associated with the Royal M ...

is the name given to the detective branches of all three Service police arms: the Royal Navy Police, Royal Military Police and Royal Air Force Police. SIB investigators usually operate in plain clothes, although they may wear uniform when serving overseas. Members are usually senior non-commissioned officers (sergeants or petty officers or above) or commissioned officers, although the Royal Air Force SIB employs corporals who perform the same function as all SIB investigators.

Jurisdiction in respect of civilians

In the United Kingdom

Service police are not

constables A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

under UK law and do not have any constabulary powers over the general public, however they have the full range of policing power that constables possess when dealing with service personnel or

civilians subject to service discipline A civilian subject to service discipline is someone who, whilst not a member of the British Armed Forces, is nevertheless subject to some aspects of British military law and the military justice system. Categories The Armed Forces Act 2006 def ...

. However, the service police can utilise the powers, available to all persons in England and Wales, under Section 24(A) of the

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) (1984 c. 60) is an Act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, and provided codes of practice for the exercise ...

, which allows any person to arrest any individual they have

reasonable grounds Reasonable suspicion is a legal standard of proof in United States law that is less than probable cause, the legal standard for arrests and warrants, but more than an "inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or 'hunch; it must be based on "specif ...

to believe is committing, or has committed, an

indictable offence In many common law jurisdictions (e.g. England and Wales, Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore), an indictable offence is an offence which can only be tried on an indictment after a preliminary hearing ...

, or triable either way, and where a constable is not available to perform the arrest. They are allowed to use such force as is reasonable in the circumstance to achieve this. A similar power of arrest exists under

Scottish common law Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland ...

, but there is a requirement to use the minimum amount of force and for the Military Police officer to have directly witnessed the individual commit the act for which they are arresting them. The service police will patrol either independently or alongside civilian police officers from local

territorial police forces A territorial police force is a police service that is responsible for an area defined by sub-national boundaries, distinguished from other police services which deal with the entire country or a type of crime. In countries organized as federations, ...

. London's

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was deve ...

is one example of this, in addition to various military towns such as

Aldershot Garrison Aldershot Garrison, also known as Aldershot Military Town, is a major garrison in South East England, between Aldershot and Farnborough in Hampshire. The garrison was established when the War Department bought a large area of land near the vill ...

(where there are numerous barracks) and also in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

due to its proximity to

HMNB Devonport His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the R ...

. During these joint patrols service police may sometimes assist territorial police officers, and may fully deal with arrested service personnel.

Postings overseas

Where service personnel are deployed overseas, the service police are often called upon to provide a complete policing service. In these situations, members of the service police can often exercise police powers in respect of civilians subject to service discipline. This includes, not exclusively, service dependents and overseas contractors sponsored by the British Armed Forces. When deployed to the Falkland Isles, service police are sworn in as reserve constables by the

Royal Falkland Islands Police The Royal Falkland Islands Police (RFIP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the Falkland Islands. The current Chief Police Officer is Superintendent Michael Luke. The Falkland Islands Police Force was granted ...

, granting them civil as well as military policing powers on the islands. Similarly when deployed to Ascension Island the Royal Saint Helena Police appoint service police officers as Special Constables.

Training

All service police receive their trade training at the Defence School of Policing and Guarding, and utilise the Service Police Crime Bureau operated by the RNP, RMP and RAFP. Each of the service police branches has its own

to undertake investigation of more serious crime and plain-clothes investigations.

Provosts

The British Military Correctional Training Centre (MCTC) at

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...

is operated by the

Military Provost Staff Corps The Military Provost Staff are the Army's specialists in custody and detention, providing advice inspection and surety within custodial establishments. The MPS form part of the Adjutant General's Corps and are based at the Military Corrective Tr ...

, an all-senior-NCO corps which only recruits from serving personnel. The staff of the Military Provost Staff Corps are known as provosts and fulfil a similar role to prison officers.

Regimental provosts

In addition to being policed by the Royal Military Police, the British Army has Regimental Provosts, who are members of individual regiments or corps with responsibility for discipline only within their own unit. Members of the Regimental Provost can be identified by the brassards they wear, which carry the letters "RP". They have no power of arrest over service personnel nor are they a police organisation ''per se''. Their primary purpose is to enforce breaches of service discipline at a local unit level.

Civilian police forces

There are several civil police forces responsible to the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

. They each have specific roles and are staffed by police officers who are not part of the armed forces and have

constabulary Constabulary may have several definitions: *A civil, non-paramilitary (police) force consisting of police officers called constables. This is the usual definition in the United Kingdom, in which all county police forces once bore the title (and som ...

powers, thus they are not military police. *The

Ministry of Defence Police The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) is a civilian special police force which is part of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. The MDP's primary responsibilities are to provide armed security and counter terrorism services to designated hig ...

is the UK based civilian police force of the Ministry of Defence. It is responsible for providing police, investigative and guarding services to Ministry of Defence property, personnel, and the Defence estate throughout the United Kingdom. *The

Sovereign Base Areas Police The Sovereign Base Areas Police is the local civilian police force for the British controlled Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus. Duties Established in August 1960, the force has responsibility for all 15,000 residen ...

provide policing services for both the Eastern and Western

Sovereign Base Areas Akrotiri and Dhekelia, officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA),, ''Periochés Kyríarchon Váseon Akrotiríou ke Dekélias''; tr, Ağrotur ve Dikelya İngiliz Egemen Üs Bölgeleri is a British Overseas Territory o ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

. *The

Gibraltar Defence Police The Gibraltar Defence Police (GDP) is a civil police force which provides a policing and security service for the Ministry of Defence in Gibraltar. Prior to 17 December 2009 it was known as the Gibraltar Services Police (GSP).

provide policing services on Ministry of Defence land and waters in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...

.Section 78, Police Act 2006

References

{{UK private and military police forces