Quote:
Originally Posted by G-CPTN
Keep it coming, James - interesting read.
Perhaps you could translate some of the TLAs for us civilians?
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Sorry mate, I did that deliberately hoping some other coppers were reading.
DSU = District Support Unit - which was the local (i.e police district) public order police up to 87 when they were disbanded at the same time as the
SPG = Special Patrol Group - which worked out of the Yard. The SPG had access to firearms and dealt with serious public disorder and serious crime, they were in a way almost a uniformed Flying Squad. But like the DSUs the SPG also worked in plain clothes on occasion.
It was quite funny on occasion turning up with lights & sirens going on a marked carrier and 13 hairy arsed coppers jump out in jeans, T shirts and trainers wearing Met Police baseball caps and police armbands.
There was a DSU on each of the 32 Police districts, which roughly equal the 32 London Boroughs.
At that time DSUs were using Ford Transits as carriers.
A crew on a carrier was 1+12, in other words 1 sgt + 12 PCs
2 of which were the Area Car drivers for the carrier.
Also at that time the DSUs and the SPG were the only fully Shield Trained
units that permanently carried shields, roit helmets, flameproof riot overalls and fire extinguishers, and we all received medic training.
In 87 -the SGP and all the DSUs were disbanded and the
TSG = Territorial Support Group was formed.
Unlike the SPG, the TSG didn't work out of the Yard and unlike the DSU they didn't work out of a District they worked on an Area (i.e. territorial) basis. So each of the 6 Met Police Areas had a TSG force of several carriers.
The TSG, like the DSU and SPG before them were on call round the clock.
When I was on the DSU - we had three carriers on B District (Kensington & Chelsea) Bravo 30, Bravo 31 and Bravo 32.
Depending on what shift you were on, earlies, lates or nights depended on what call sign you took.
DPG = Diplomatic Protection Group - The uniformed bods in flat caps standing outside embassies, consulates and MPs houses, armed (back then) with only
a S & W .38 - They were the group that used both the marked and unmarked red cars and vans.
RP = Royalty Protection - Uniformed armed police in helmets guarding the palaces.
At some point in the late 80s early 90s, I can't remember exactly these two combined to create the:
RDPG = Royalty & Diplomatic Protection Group
In the early 90s it all went 9mm Sig Sauer (sour...get it?
) and H & K
ARU = Armed Response Unit - these tooled up areas cars with a crew of three first appeared in the late 80s/early 90s. At that time their 9mm pistols, H & K SMGs and shotguns were locked in a safe in the car. They also worked on an Area basis
So they would take a call to an incident, turn up, and then radio in for permission to open the box and arm up. Obviously for things like armed robberies that were still ongoing they would got permisison en route and tool up before arriving on scene.
HTH (hope that helps)
(edited for spelling mistakes and the fact that I incorrectly called the ARU ASU)