Aviation Security Operational Command Unit
Encyclopedia
The Aviation Security Operational Command Unit (SO18) is a Specialist Operations
unit of London
's Metropolitan Police Service
. The unit is responsible for providing law enforcement
and security for both Heathrow
and London City
airport
s. London's other airports, Gatwick
, Stansted
and Luton
are policed by Sussex
, Essex
and the Bedfordshire Police
respectively, as they are not located in the Metropolitan Police District
.
Policing of London City Airport
has always been undertaken by the Metropolitan Police, with Aviation Security acquiring the remit from local officers during 2004.
s, the vast majority being trained Firearms Officers
. Along with carrying out routine policing, Aviation Security must always guard against terrorism
and be ready to respond to an aircraft emergency. Human trafficking is another area policed, with close working relationships existing with the UK Border Agency
. Traffic warden
s and Police Community Support Officer
s work at both airports.
In 2005 the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, announced that Specialist Operations units were to be re-aligned. The plans included forming three new departments within Specialist Operations to carry out specific functions:
On 2 April 2007, SO18 transferred to the Central Operations business group and became CO18.
Firearms commonly used for armed airport policing duties:
Armed Response Airport Vehicles patrol the entry and exit points to the main terminal buildings and the perimeter roads only. Also armed foot patrols are inside.
.
The unit is manned by a small group of traffic officers, trained in Road Collision Investigation, Traffic Law Enforcement and experienced in dealing with collisions and incidents involving aircraft on the airfield. They are responsible for evidence gathering at the scene of any serious incident involving aircraft arriving or departing Heathrow's runways, taxiways or stands and work alongside the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB)
of the Department for Transport
.
The officers can be distinguished from their armed colleagues as they wear white caps, high visibility jackets and drive conventionally motorway marked battenburg liveried vehicles. They can be regularly seen on the strategic motorway network surrounding the airport, the perimeter roads and also on the terminal forecourts where, along with enforcing the road traffic regulations and assisting the free flow of vehicles, they undertake a highly visible public reassurance counter-terrorism role.
This small group of highly specialised officers have led the implementation of new legislation, the Railway & Transport Safety Act to regulate drink/flying offences in the UK. Seen as being particularly controversial, information about a suspected offence is normally received from either the airline or airport security personnel. Having informed police, there is a requirement that such allegations are investigated which is undertaken by these officers. Utilising special breath test devices, officers screen crews alleged of having consumed alcohol to prove or disprove the allegation. These rules relate not only to pilots, air traffic controllers, cabin crews but also to ground engineers. Penalties imposed by Courts are particularly severe although the majority of individuals who have been convicted have been foreign members of crew working for foreign carriers.
Specialist Operations
Specialist Operations is a directorate of the Metropolitan Police. At its peak, SO was a group of twenty specialist units, which were formed to give the Metropolitan Police a specialist policing capability. The SO designation was implemented in 1986 as part of Sir Kenneth Newman's restructuring of...
unit of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Metropolitan Police Service
Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...
. The unit is responsible for providing law enforcement
Law enforcement agency
In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...
and security for both Heathrow
London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
and London City
London City Airport
London City Airport is a single-runway airport. It principally serves the financial district of London and is located on a former Docklands site, east of the City of London, opposite the London Regatta Centre, in the London Borough of Newham in east London. It was developed by the engineering...
airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
s. London's other airports, Gatwick
London Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport is located 3.1 miles north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and south of Central London. Previously known as London Gatwick,In 2010, the name changed from London Gatwick Airport to Gatwick Airport...
, Stansted
London Stansted Airport
-Cargo:-Statistics:-Infrastructure:-Terminal and satellite buildings:Stansted is the newest passenger airport of all the main London airports. The terminal is an oblong glass building, and is separated in to three areas: Check-in concourse, arrivals and departures...
and Luton
London Luton Airport
London Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway...
are policed by Sussex
Sussex Police
Sussex Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing East Sussex, West Sussex and City of Brighton and Hove in southern England. Its head office is in Lewes, Lewes District, East Sussex.-History:...
, Essex
Essex Police
Essex Police is a territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Essex in the east of England.It is one of the largest non-metropolitan police forces in the United Kingdom, employing approximately 3,600 police officers and operating across an area of over and with a population of...
and the Bedfordshire Police
Bedfordshire Police
Bedfordshire Police, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire in England, which includes the unitary authorities of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton. Its headquarters are in Kempston. The county had an estimated population of 602,500 in...
respectively, as they are not located in the Metropolitan Police District
Metropolitan Police District
The Metropolitan Police District is the police area which is policed by London's Metropolitan Police Service. It currently consists of Greater London, excluding the City of London.-History:...
.
History
Policing at Heathrow was initially undertaken by the Civil Aviation Authority. In 1965, the responsibility was taken over by the British Airports Authority Constabulary, which subsequently passed to the Metropolitan Police on 1 November 1974 as a consequence of the Policing of Airports Act 1974.Policing of London City Airport
London City Airport
London City Airport is a single-runway airport. It principally serves the financial district of London and is located on a former Docklands site, east of the City of London, opposite the London Regatta Centre, in the London Borough of Newham in east London. It was developed by the engineering...
has always been undertaken by the Metropolitan Police, with Aviation Security acquiring the remit from local officers during 2004.
Policing today
The unit employs around 400 Police OfficerPolice officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
s, the vast majority being trained Firearms Officers
Authorised Firearms Officer
An Authorised Firearms Officer is a British police officer who has received training and authorisation to carry and use firearms. The designation is significant because within the United Kingdom, police officers do not routinely carry firearms...
. Along with carrying out routine policing, Aviation Security must always guard against terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
and be ready to respond to an aircraft emergency. Human trafficking is another area policed, with close working relationships existing with the UK Border Agency
UK Border Agency
The UK Border Agency is the border control body of the United Kingdom government and part of the Home Office. It was formed on 1 April 2008 by a merger of the Border and Immigration Agency , UKvisas and the Detection functions of HM Revenue and Customs...
. Traffic warden
Traffic warden
A traffic warden is a non-warranted officer employed by a statutory authority in jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Ireland, to assist in regulating the flow of traffic.- Ireland :...
s and Police Community Support Officer
Police community support officer
A police community support officer , or community support officer is a uniformed non-warranted officer employed by a territorial police force or the British Transport Police in England and Wales. Police community support officers were introduced in September 2002 by the Police Reform Act 2002...
s work at both airports.
In 2005 the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, announced that Specialist Operations units were to be re-aligned. The plans included forming three new departments within Specialist Operations to carry out specific functions:
- Protecting People, (Splitting the functions of both SO14 & SO16 and merging them with parts of SO17, SO18 and SO12)
- Protecting Places, (Splitting the functions of both SO14 & SO16 and merging them with parts of SO17 and SO18)
- Counter Terrorism Command (Merging SO12 & SO13 together)
On 2 April 2007, SO18 transferred to the Central Operations business group and became CO18.
Firearms commonly used for armed airport policing duties:
- German Heckler & Koch MP5Heckler & Koch MP5The Heckler & Koch MP5 is a 9mm submachine gun of German design, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH of Oberndorf am Neckar....
A3(Semi-Automatic Carbine) - German Heckler & Koch G36Heckler & Koch G36The Heckler & Koch G36 is a 5.56×45mm assault rifle, designed in the early 1990s by Heckler & Koch in Germany as a replacement for the 7.62mm G3 battle rifle. It was accepted into service with the Bundeswehr in 1997, replacing the G3...
C (Semi-Automatic Carbine) - Austrian Glock 17 (Pistol)
- American X26 TaserTaserA Taser is an electroshock weapon that uses electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. Its manufacturer, Taser International, calls the effects "neuromuscular incapacitation" and the devices' mechanism "Electro-Muscular Disruption technology"...
Armed Response Airport Vehicles patrol the entry and exit points to the main terminal buildings and the perimeter roads only. Also armed foot patrols are inside.
Aviation and Roads Policing Unit (Traffic Unit)
One of the key operational units within SO18 is the Aviation and Road Policing UnitRoad Policing Unit
The Road Policing Unit is the term for the Highway patrol within the majority of British police forces.-Responsibilities:RPUs work with the National Roads Policing Strategy, which has five strands:* Casualty reduction.* Counter-terrorism....
.
The unit is manned by a small group of traffic officers, trained in Road Collision Investigation, Traffic Law Enforcement and experienced in dealing with collisions and incidents involving aircraft on the airfield. They are responsible for evidence gathering at the scene of any serious incident involving aircraft arriving or departing Heathrow's runways, taxiways or stands and work alongside the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB)
Air Accidents Investigation Branch
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch investigates air accidents in the United Kingdom. It is a branch of the Department for Transport and is based on the grounds of Farnborough Airport near Aldershot, Rushmoor, Hampshire.-History:...
of the Department for Transport
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
.
The officers can be distinguished from their armed colleagues as they wear white caps, high visibility jackets and drive conventionally motorway marked battenburg liveried vehicles. They can be regularly seen on the strategic motorway network surrounding the airport, the perimeter roads and also on the terminal forecourts where, along with enforcing the road traffic regulations and assisting the free flow of vehicles, they undertake a highly visible public reassurance counter-terrorism role.
This small group of highly specialised officers have led the implementation of new legislation, the Railway & Transport Safety Act to regulate drink/flying offences in the UK. Seen as being particularly controversial, information about a suspected offence is normally received from either the airline or airport security personnel. Having informed police, there is a requirement that such allegations are investigated which is undertaken by these officers. Utilising special breath test devices, officers screen crews alleged of having consumed alcohol to prove or disprove the allegation. These rules relate not only to pilots, air traffic controllers, cabin crews but also to ground engineers. Penalties imposed by Courts are particularly severe although the majority of individuals who have been convicted have been foreign members of crew working for foreign carriers.