The Protection Command is one of the commands within the

Specialist Operations The Specialist Operations directorate is a unit of the Metropolitan Police in London, England. It is responsible for providing specialist policing capabilities, including national security and counter-terrorism operations. As of May 2025, the Spe ...

directorate of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

's Metropolitan Police Service. The command specialises in protective security and has two branches: Royalty and Specialist Protection (RaSP), providing protection to the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

and

close protection A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public officials, wealthy business ...

government officials An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of the ...

, and

Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection (PaDP) is a branch of the Protection Command within the Specialist Operations directorate of London's Metropolitan Police Service. Duties A unit of the Metropolitan Police Service, PaDP is responsible fo ...

(PaDP), providing uniformed security to government buildings, officials and diplomats. In contrast with the vast majority of British police officers, many members of the Protection Command routinely carry firearms in the course of their duties and all are authorised firearms officers.

Branches

In April 2015, the branches of Protection Command and elements of Security Command were merged into two distinct branches under the control of Protection Command: Royalty and Specialist Protection (RaSP; a merger of Royalty Protection and Specialist Protection) and Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection (PaDP; a merger of the Diplomatic Protection Group and the Palace of Westminster Division of Security Command).

Royalty and Specialist Protection

The Royalty and Specialist Protection (RaSP) was formed following a merger of the Royalty Protection Command (SO14) with the Specialist Protection Command (SO1) in April 2015. The department has three service areas: #

Close protection A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public officials, wealthy business ...

for members of the Royal Family, government ministers (which includes the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

) and visiting heads of state. # The Special Escort Group (SEG) who provide mobile armed protection to members of the royal family and government ministers # Armed security at royal residences in London, Windsor and Scotland. Prior to 1978, when the ''Royalty Protection Branch'' was formed as a separate non-divisional specialist unit, royalty protection officers were attached for administrative purposes to "A" Division, although they fell within "A" Department at New Scotland Yard.

Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection

(PaDP) was formed following a merger of the Diplomatic Protection Group (SO6) with the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

Division (SO17) in April 2015. PaDP provide armed and unarmed protection of embassies, missions and the Parliamentary Estate. They also provide residential protection for high-profile government ministers and are responsible for access control and security at Downing Street and New Scotland Yard. PaDP was the command in which Police Constable Keith Palmer, who was killed in an attack at Westminster in 2017, worked, as did convicted kidnapper, murderer and rapist

Wayne Couzens On the evening of 3 March 2021, 33-year-old Sarah Everard was kidnapped in South London, England, as she was walking home to the Brixton Hill area from a friend's house near Clapham Common. She was stopped by off-duty Metropolitan Police consta ...

who used his status as a Police Officer to deceive his victim Sarah Everard by falsely arresting her.

References

External links

Official Webpage
{{Metropolitan Police Metropolitan Police units Protective security units

Branches

Royalty and Specialist Protection

Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection

See also

References

External links