Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE POLICE AND GUARDING AGENCY ANNUAL REPORT
Tactical Firearms Support Dogs continue to be employed
as a support resource and as a tactical option for the Force.
There are currently eight qualified teams deployed across the
Defence estate at various dog holding units.
Police dog related business within MDP is being
progressed within the remit of the Police Dog Programme. A
Divisional Dog Adviser infrastructure has been re-established,
the ACPO National Police Dog Assessment Model (training
and accreditation standards) has been implemented and a
home kennelling trial has been completed. Negotiations with
Defence Animal Centre at Melton Mowbray are being
progressed in relation to the supply of dogs and handler
training.
MGS DOGS
There are 196 MGS dogs, with 341 handlers. Assessment
work on their absorption into the Agency began in-year and is
continuing.
OPERATIONAL SUPPORT UNIT
During the year the Operational Support Unit through its
North and South sub-units has continued to provide the
Agency with a flexible policing response to all operational
demands, often at short notice. Both units continue to come
under the direct operational control of the Operational
Support Department and any tasking must be authorised by
the department before being undertaken.
The actual duties carried out are dependent upon the
specific needs of the occasion at any given time and are
prioritised appropriately via the Force’s Tactical Tasking and
Co-ordinating Group. The OSU still remains one of the
Agency’s primary providers of surge capacity. In fact OSU
North had an increase in taskings of 76% compared with
the previous year and OSU South an increase of 97.5%.
The OSU provides expertise and support in a range of
specialist areas, such as Public Order, Defensive Search,
CBRN response, Rope Access and Cutting and Firearms.
They also provide search and firearms teams for the nuclear
convoys. The training and standards employed in all of these
16
Patrolling the Solent during
the week long Trafalgar 200
celebrations
specialist areas meet those laid down by the relevant ACPO
Manuals of Guidance and by the MDP Policy and Procedures
Manual.
2005 was one of the Agency’s busiest and most
challenging years. High profile, pre-planned events such as
policing of the G8 Summit, the Trafalgar 200 celebrations at
Portsmouth, real-time policing and security for Exercise
Senator and the movement of large quantities of small arms
all required the full support of the OSU. OSU also supplied
support to AWE during Block the Builder protests. All of the
policing objectives associated with these challenging and
demanding policing operations were successfully met.
The 7 July 2005 London suicide bombings and the postincident
policing and security operation (Operation Toga)
quickly became the Force’s most challenging event in 2005,
in particular for the OSU. Shortly after the bombings, OSU
officers were deployed on the streets of the capital in
support of MDP operations in Whitehall and also in support
of the Metropolitan Police Diplomatic Support Groups at
other key, strategic locations. This rapid deployment of the
OSU highlighted the unit’s effectiveness as a specialist
resource and its strategic importance to the Force in terms
of surge capacity and operational resilience.
CENTRAL CONTROL ROOM
Located at our Wethersfield HQ in Essex, the Agency
Central Control Room (CCR) is the 24/7 central
communication and information centre for the Agency. It
provides an internal central point of contact for Divisional
Headquarters, Stations, Divisional Support Groups and
specialist Force departments; externally for contact with
Visiting Forces, other police forces, the wider MOD and with
external agencies such as Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency,
the Land Census Team, Forensic Science Service, Criminal
Records Bureau, the O2 Airwave network, and the Courts.
CCR has a number of primary business areas. The
facilities afforded to operational policing, via 24 hour access
to the Police National Computer, can access details on driver
licences, insurance, MOT, or firearms certificate holders.