Police Support Unit (UK)
Encyclopedia
A Police Support Unit or PSU is a unit of police officers who have undergone specialist training in public order policing.
Police Support Unit training in the United Kingdom is voluntary tactical training undertaken by selected candidates that provides students with the skills required to safely and effectively deal with a variety of public order situations outside the remit or capability of regular divisional officers.
PSU trained officers in the UK are commonly referred to as Level 2, Mutual Aid Trained (MAT), or PSU.
The majority of UK Forces use Mercedes Sprinter Vans, known as 'Carriers', as standard transport for PSUs. These vehicles are equipped with mesh window shields and outfitted with storage compartments for officers riot and CBRN
kit. Carrier drivers must undergo specialist driver training in 'riot conditions' before qualifying as a carrier driver.
Standard kit for PSU officers consists of a transparent acrylic riot shield, a baton, a visored 'NATO' helmet, shin and elbow guards, along with fireproof coveralls when required. This level of protection allows officers to deal with a variety of violent situations, including riots, football violence and suspects armed with a variety of weapons. Some PSU teams are also dual-trained as first-line responders for CBRN
incidents and carry relevant detection kit as well as major incident equipment.
PSU officers are trained to a higher standard of operational readiness than their divisional counterparts. Training exercises undertaken encompass a variety of public order scenarios; officers will undergo extensive riot training including being petrol bombed in large scale engagements, prison clearance tactics, football stadium scenarios, night club scenarios, aircraft, rail and various 'angry-man' scenarios, as well as additional specialist training. PSU units spend considerable time training with other specialist police teams as well as certain military units.
A PSU consists of:
As well as PSU they (full time units) may be called, dependent on the police force:
and the Operational Support Unit (OSU) of the Metropolitan Police's TPHQ specials.
Police Support Unit training in the United Kingdom is voluntary tactical training undertaken by selected candidates that provides students with the skills required to safely and effectively deal with a variety of public order situations outside the remit or capability of regular divisional officers.
PSU trained officers in the UK are commonly referred to as Level 2, Mutual Aid Trained (MAT), or PSU.
The majority of UK Forces use Mercedes Sprinter Vans, known as 'Carriers', as standard transport for PSUs. These vehicles are equipped with mesh window shields and outfitted with storage compartments for officers riot and CBRN
CBRN
CBRN is an initialism for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear. It is used to refer to situations in which any of these four hazards have presented themselves. The term CBRN is a replacement for the cold war term NBC , which had replaced the term ABC that was used in the fifties...
kit. Carrier drivers must undergo specialist driver training in 'riot conditions' before qualifying as a carrier driver.
Standard kit for PSU officers consists of a transparent acrylic riot shield, a baton, a visored 'NATO' helmet, shin and elbow guards, along with fireproof coveralls when required. This level of protection allows officers to deal with a variety of violent situations, including riots, football violence and suspects armed with a variety of weapons. Some PSU teams are also dual-trained as first-line responders for CBRN
CBRN
CBRN is an initialism for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear. It is used to refer to situations in which any of these four hazards have presented themselves. The term CBRN is a replacement for the cold war term NBC , which had replaced the term ABC that was used in the fifties...
incidents and carry relevant detection kit as well as major incident equipment.
PSU officers are trained to a higher standard of operational readiness than their divisional counterparts. Training exercises undertaken encompass a variety of public order scenarios; officers will undergo extensive riot training including being petrol bombed in large scale engagements, prison clearance tactics, football stadium scenarios, night club scenarios, aircraft, rail and various 'angry-man' scenarios, as well as additional specialist training. PSU units spend considerable time training with other specialist police teams as well as certain military units.
A PSU consists of:
- 1 InspectorInspectorInspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :...
- 3 SergeantSergeantSergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
s - 18 ConstableConstableA constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
s plus 2 medics and 3 drivers.
PSU grades
All officers will be trained to the common minimum standards as defined in the ACPO Public Order Tactical Trainers Manual. The grades are dependent on the training that the officer has received.- Level 1 - these officers (normally full time PSU) receive regular training which can be every five weeks receiving training in shield tactics, violent person, petrol bombing and training in house entry and search. All public order officers need to be fit; a Level 1 officer must be able to run 1000 metres, dressed in full protective equipment whilst carrying a long shield, in less than 6 minutes.
- Level 2 - These officers are drawn from Boroughs, Divisions or Areas and some specialist units; they receive the same training as Level 1 officers but only attend twice a year for two days (or in some forces a 3 day course every 12 months). Level 2 officers must be able to run 500 metres dressed in full protective equipment whilst carrying a long shield in less than 2 mins 45 secs. If an officer fails any of the runs they are returned to their Borough/Division/Area without receiving training or qualification. The long shields the officers carry are 5'6" tall, 1'11" wide and weigh 17 lbs.
- Level 3 - All other police officers are classed as being level 3 trained, this they will have received in their last week at training school, their training includes all foot duty cordons, and mounted branch deployments.
Full-time PSU
Most police forces maintain full-time PSU sections whose role is to provide a wide range of specialist services in addition to high visibility core policing. Forces that do not maintain a full time PSU section will have PSU trained officers in other roles (such as standard response roles) who can be called upon by a rota system.As well as PSU they (full time units) may be called, dependent on the police force:
- Support Group (Avon and Somerset)
- Tactical Support Group (Leicestershire ConstabularyLeicestershire ConstabularyLeicestershire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland in England. Its headquarters are at Enderby, Leicestershire.The current Chief Constable is Simon Cole.-History:...
, Surrey PoliceSurrey PoliceSurrey Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Surrey in the south of England.The force is led by Chief Constable Mark Rowley and has its headquarters at Mount Browne, Guildford, Surrey...
, Kent PoliceKent PoliceKent Police is the territorial police force for Kent in England, including the unitary authority of Medway.-Area and organisation:The force covers an area of with an approximate population of 1,660,588 . The Chief Constable is currently Ian Learmonth, who was appointed in 2010 and is the former...
) - Force Support Unit (Hampshire ConstabularyHampshire ConstabularyHampshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in southern England.The force area includes the cities of Winchester, Southampton and Portsmouth...
, Essex PoliceEssex PoliceEssex 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...
) - Operational Support Unit (Ministry of Defence PoliceMinistry of Defence PoliceThe Ministry of Defence Police is a civilian police force which is part of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. The force is part of the larger government agency, the Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency , together with the Ministry of Defence Guard Service...
, British Transport PoliceBritish Transport PoliceThe British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services...
, Lancashire ConstabularyLancashire ConstabularyLancashire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Lancashire in the North West England. The force's headquarters are at Hutton, near the city of Preston...
, Lincolnshire PoliceLincolnshire PoliceLincolnshire Police is the territorial police force covering the non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands of England. Despite the name, the force's area does not include North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire, which are covered by Humberside Police instead.In terms of...
, West Midlands PoliceWest Midlands PoliceWest Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England.Covering an area with nearly 2.6 million inhabitants, which includes the cities of Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton and also the Black Country; the force is made up...
, West Yorkshire PoliceWest Yorkshire PoliceWest Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing West Yorkshire in England. It is the fourth largest force in England and Wales by number of officers, with 5671 officers....
(formerly Operation Target Team), South Wales PoliceSouth Wales PoliceSouth Wales Police is one of the four territorial police forces in Wales. Its headquarters are based in Bridgend.Covering Wales' capital city, Cardiff, as well as Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil, Swansea, and the western South Wales Valleys, it is the largest police force in Wales in terms of population,...
) - Tactical Aid Unit (Greater Manchester PoliceGreater Manchester PoliceGreater Manchester Police is the police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England...
) - Tactical Aid Group (Devon and Cornwall Police)
- Divisional Support Unit (Hertfordshire ConstabularyHertfordshire ConstabularyHertfordshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Hertfordshire in England. Its headquarters is situated in Welwyn Garden City...
) - Territorial Support GroupTerritorial Support GroupThe Territorial Support Group is a Central Operations unit of London's Metropolitan Police Service consisting of 720 officers, that specialises in public order containment among other specialist policing. The TSG is a uniformed unit of the MPS that replaced the controversial Special Patrol Group...
(Metropolitan PoliceMetropolitan policeMetropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
, Nottinghamshire PoliceNottinghamshire PoliceNottinghamshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the shire county of Nottinghamshire and the unitary authority of Nottingham in the East Midlands of England. The area has a population of just over 1 million....
) - Matrix Disruption Team (Merseyside PoliceMerseyside PoliceMerseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The force area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million...
) - Vector (Cheshire Police)
- Area Support Group (Northumbria PoliceNorthumbria PoliceNorthumbria Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the areas of Northumberland and Tyne and Wear in North East England. The service is the sixth largest police force in England and Wales. The current Chief Constable is Sue Sim who was appointed by Northumbria Police...
)
Core functions
The core functions of the support unit, dependent on the police force or service are:- Apprehension of violent/deranged people
- Security/VIP searches
- Military convoy escort
- Prisoner escorts
- Searches for missing people/evidence
- Public order training
- Public order response
- Method of entry (MOE) or Door breachingDoor breachingDoor breaching is a process used by military, police, or emergency services to force open closed and/or locked doors. A wide range of methods are available, one or more of which may be used in any given situation...
- Public order instructors/ tactical advisors
- Security in relation to the Terrorism Act 2000
- Initial response to suspect explosive devices
- Police search advisors and co-ordinators
- Missing person search managers
- Chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) response
- Pool of authorised firearm officers
- High profile, proactive, intelligence-led patrols
- Roped access and confined-space search teams
- Body Recovery teams
Special Constabulary
As with their full-time counterparts, some Special Constables are trained in public order duties, including policing of football matches and demonstrations. In West Yorkshire Police, 24 Specials have received Level 2 PSU - Police Support Unit training, and have become part of the 'Operation Target' team. PSU Level 2 training is also available to Special Constables of Lothian & Borders Police (Scotland), British Transport PoliceBritish Transport Police
The British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services...
and the Operational Support Unit (OSU) of the Metropolitan Police's TPHQ specials.
See also
- Operational Support Unit (Ministry of Defence Police)Operational Support Unit (Ministry of Defence Police)The Operational Support Unit is the Ministry of Defence Police's centrally managed, multi-capability, national response unit. It may be deployed anywhere in the UK at short notice. The MDP has two Operational Support Units...
- Special ConstabularySpecial ConstabularyThe Special Constabulary is the part-time volunteer section of a statutory police force in the United Kingdom or some Crown dependencies. Its officers are known as Special Constables or informally as Specials.Every United Kingdom territorial police force has a special constabulary except the...
- Police IntelligencePolice IntelligencePolice intelligence refers to an element of the British police. Staffed by police officers and support staff, its purpose is to track and predict crime with a view to curbing it...