Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection

Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection (PaDP) is a branch of Protection Command within the Specialist Operations directorate of London's Metropolitan Police Service.[1]

PaDP officers guarding the main gates at Downing Street in London

Duties
Two PaDP officers outside the Palace of Westminster in 2016

A unit of the Metropolitan Police Service, PaDP is responsible for providing officers (armed and unarmed) to protect the Palace of Westminster, which contains the Houses of Parliament; it protects government ministers and provides advice on threat levels.[2] Within PaDP is a Parliamentary Liaison and Investigation Team (PLaIT), which is responsible for coordinating with local police forces and with the Parliamentary Security Department (PSD) that reports to the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords.[2] In addition, PaDP is responsible for security at Downing Street, which is home to the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer.[3]

PaDP is also responsible for the protection of diplomatic missions in the UK, consistent with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (which requires that a host country protect embassies and consulates, while preserving their inviolability).[4] PaDP provides armed and unarmed security in both police cars and foot patrols, and uniformed and plainclothes operations.[4]

History
An armed officer on duty near the entrance to Downing Street

PaDP was created in April 2015 through a merger of the Metropolitan Police Service's Diplomatic Protection Group (SO6) and the Palace of Westminster Division (SO17).[5][6] It is the largest armed police unit in the UK.[7]

The Diplomatic Protection Group (DPG) was originally formed in November 1974 as a branch of the Metropolitan Police Service devoted to the protection of diplomatic missions in Central London.[8] DPG officers were also assigned to support security operations for royal weddings, state visits, and other special events.[8] The group was elevated to a command in 1979.[8]

The Palace of Westminster Division (SO17) was a branch of the Specialist Operations Directorate within the Metropolitan Police Service. In accordance with a contract and Special Service Agreement with Parliament, SO17 was responsible for security at the Palace of Westminster and the rest of the Parliamentary Estate.[9]

Notable incidents

On 27 December 1972, police constable (PC) Peter Slimon, en route to his post protecting the Jordanian embassy, ran across an attempted bank robbery in progress at the National Westminster Bank at Kensington High Street. A gun battle ensued (a very rare event in London). Slimon fatally shot one bank robber and wounded another; Slimon was himself wounded by gunfire.[10][11] Slimon was awarded the George Medal for "outstanding resolution, devotion to duty and courage of a very high order" in tackling the robbers.[12]

During the Iranian Embassy siege of 1980, PC Trevor Lock was taken hostage along with the embassy staff. The British Army's Special Air Service rescued the hostages six days later.[8]

PC Keith Palmer, who was murdered in the line of duty in a terrorist stabbing attack in 2017 in New Palace Yard, was a member of PaDP.[13]

In early 2021, PC Wayne Couzens, who at the time was a member of PaDP,[14] falsely arrested Sarah Everard under the pretence of having breached COVID-19 regulations and drove her to near Dover where he raped and strangled her, before burning her body and disposing of her remains in a nearby pond.

Three days after Couzens was jailed,[15] PC David Carrick, a serving member of PaDP[16] was charged with one count of rape following an alleged attack on a woman on the night of 4 September 2020.[17]

See also

References
  1. "Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection". Metropolitan Police Service. Archived from the original on 26 January 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2016.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. Security at Westminster and beyond in Democracy, freedom of expression and freedom of association: Threats to MPs, Joint Committee on Human Rights (2019).
  3. Questions to the Mayor: Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Unit polices, London Assembly (18 June 2020).
  4. Met boosts security for embassies, Embassy Network (21 February 2019).
  5. Envoys learn of new threat at security seminar, Embassy Network (18 January 2016).
  6. Police guard the entrance to Downing Street London., Getty Images (22 July 2019).
  7. Elite London Police Officer Arrested on Suspicion Of Murder, Agence France-Presse (10 March 2021).
  8. "History of the Diplomatic Protection Group". Metropolitan Police Service. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2016.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. "SO17 Palace of Westminster". Metropolitan Police Service. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2013.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. Alvin Shuster, Gun Battle in London Stirs Controversy, New York Times (3 January 1973).
  11. "Period 1946 to date". Friends of the Metropolitan Police Historical Collection. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012.
  12. "No. 46156". The London Gazette. 18 December 1973. p. 15034.
  13. Eoghan Macguire (10 April 2017). "London Honors Slain Terror Attack Police Officer Keith Palmer". NBC News.
  14. Chris Hunter (3 October 2021). "Sarah Everard killer Wayne Couzens was deployed as parliamentary guard". Kent Online.
  15. Ryan Merrifield (3 October 2021). "Serving Met Police officer from same unit as Wayne Couzens charged with rape". The Mirror.
  16. The Crown Prosecution Service (3 October 2021). "CPS authorises rape charge against David Carrick". Kent Online.
  17. "Serving London Police Officer David Carrick Charged with Rape - October 3, 2021". Daily News Brief. 2021-10-03. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
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