Specialist Operations


The Specialist Operations directorate is a unit of the Metropolitan Police of London, UK responsible for providing specialist policing capabilities including national security and counter-terrorism operations. The Specialist Operations Directorate is currently led by Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu.

History

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 the Metropolitan Police Service. Most of the units designated SO units were already in existence, many of them as departments of C Division and its branches, and all were presided over by an Assistant Commissioner of Special Operations.
In 2010, ACSO co-directed Operation Guava, aimed at "a significant terrorist plot". The aim of this ACSO action was to prevent the establishment of a jihadist training camp in Kashmir on land owned by one of the suspects. Operation Guava resulted in the 2012 conviction of Usman Khan, who went on to perpetrate the 2019 London Bridge stabbing.

Structure

Since April 2015

The Specialist Operations Directorate comprises two Commands.

Protection and security operations

The Protection Command is led by a Deputy Assistant Commissioner, and is responsible for protective security for high-profile governmental representatives of the United Kingdom or from the diplomatic community. As such it is analogous to the United States Secret Service or the Diplomatic Security Service. The PSO Command comprises three branches:
The Counter Terrorism Command is led by a Deputy Assistant Commissioner who is the concurrent National Police Chiefs' Council Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism leading National Counter Terrorism Policing Network. The Counter Terrorism Command is responsible for protecting London and the rest of the United Kingdom from the threat of terrorism. The Command operates against the threat of terrorism at a local, national and international level, and supports the National Counter Terrorism Network. The Command also has the national lead for domestic extremism in support of the National Domestic Extremism and Disorder Intelligence Unit. The Command also deals with sensitive national security investigations, such as Official Secrets Act enquiries, the investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and politically motivated murders. It was created in 2006 through the merger of the Met's Anti-Terrorist Branch and Special Branch.

Until April 2015

Protection Command
Until April 2015 Protection Command was split into three units that provide protection for ministers, the royal family, and for foreign embassies, diplomats, and visiting dignitaries:
Security Command
Until April 2015, the Security Command consisted of three units that provide protection of Parliament and the two airports within Greater London, and organise security for major events in London.
Counter Terrorism Command
Counter Terrorism Command has remained unchanged.

Historical structure

Owing to continual restructuring of the Metropolitan Police, only a few of the original SO units still exist in their original form and still use the SO designation. Where the SO designation has been reassigned to another unit, the units are listed in order