Aviation Security Operational Command Unit
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The Aviation Security Operational Command Unit (SO18), after April 2015 known as Aviation Policing Command (APC) or Specialist Operations – Aviation Policing (SOAP),[1] is a Specialist Operations unit of London's Metropolitan Police Service. The unit is responsible for providing policing and security for both Heathrow and London City airports.[2] London's other airports – Gatwick, Stansted and Luton – are policed by Sussex, Essex and Bedfordshire Police respectively, as they are not located in the Metropolitan Police District.
History
Policing at Heathrow was initially undertaken by the
Policing of London City Airport 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
In 2005, the
- Protecting People – splitting the functions of both SO12.
- Protecting Places – splitting the functions of both SO17and SO18.
- SO13together.
Firearms commonly used for armed airport policing duties:
- Heckler & Koch MP5 A3 (Semi-Automatic Carbine)
- Heckler & Koch G36C (Semi-Automatic Carbine)
- SIG Sauer 519
- Glock 17(Pistol)
- X2 Taser
Armed Response Airport Vehicles patrol the entry and exit points to the main terminal buildings, the perimeter roads and respond to firearms calls in local boroughs. There are also armed foot patrols inside.
Aviation and Roads Policing Unit (Traffic Unit)
One of the key operational units within SO18 is the Aviation and
The unit is manned by a small group of traffic officers, trained in Road Collision Investigation, Traffic Law Enforcement are experienced in dealing with collisions and incidents involving vehicles around the airport. They also work alongside the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) of the Department for Transport where a vehicle may have been involved in an aircraft collision.
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 and are unarmed. 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 accused 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.
See also
- Airport security in the United Kingdom
References
- ^ "Transferring officers - firearms". www.met.police.uk. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ Metropolitan Police