On the Job with London and Irish Cops

A tip of the hat goes out to the hard-working officers of the London Metropolitan Police and Ireland’s Garda Siochana.

Steve Kardian and Brad Parker just got back from meeting and training with various personnel from these two police agencies along with Ray Butcher of Defend University Ireland. (Click on the thumbnails to see the larger photo).

The Republic of Ireland’s national police force is called the Garda Siochana. Butcher set up a training demonstration session with various members of the Garda, which is responsible for all aspects of Ireland’s law enforcement from the cop on the street and the airports and up to the counterterrorism and tactical teams.

Officers of the Garda (with the exception of diplomatic security and tactical officers) are armed only with their wits and batons. Attendees expressed concern with ever-increasing restrictions on the use of force by the European Union Commission on Health and Safety, budgetary pressures on the training departments and the recertification cycle for officers.

Questions arose as to methods and solutions for dealing with aggressive protesters in protective details for dignitaries as well as control and restraint techniques which an officer can use with a low level of force.

One of the more common risks the Irish officer encounters is assault by IV drug users wielding their syringes. Another common risk is serious assault on single officers by bigger and stronger assailants or by groups of hooligans.

The three hopped over the Irish Sea to Great Britain to meet with trainers and instructors from the London Metropolitan Police department. A day of on-the-mat training in Epson culminated with a few pints and fish and chips at one of the nearby restaurants.

The British officers also noted the EU Health and Safety restrictions on officers as a major impediment to progressive defensive tactics (called “Officer Safety” in the UK and Ireland) strategies for officers.

Parker was invited to work an additional shift with “The Met’s” Territorial Support Group (TSG) Unit 5. The TSG is a special response unit that supports the full time beat officer (the famous Bobby) in all of London’s 32 boroughs. Basically, each borough has full time community beat officers which are supported by the city-wide five Territorial Support Groups and SO19, which is the Force Firearms Unit developed to deal with armed criminals and counter-sniper situations.

SO19 is Britain’s response to the increasing pressure of violent criminals using guns. The Met handled two drive-by shootings during the week Parker was in London, a pace that is virtually unheard of in that city. Bobbies and TSG officers are unarmed and only carry batons, rigid handcuffs, and chemical spray (they carry CS and not OC spray). The level of force needed for permission to spray is comparable to that of a firearm, so it is not used very often.

Individual officers expressed a desire to see tasers and handguns issued in the near future.

TSG units patrol in box vans carrying 4 to 6 officers with a Sergeant. The vans also carry the officers’ riot gear and shields. TSG units are extremely mobile and aggressive, backing up beat officers and initiating contact constantly. The units have a reputation for professionalism and toughness that gets respect from the criminal element in the community.

These TSG units respond to many situations in which SWAT units would respond in the States, unless the subject is armed with a firearm. Those situations would call for SO19.

One such call for TSG 535 during Parker’s patrol was for a suspect involved with a stabbing in the building earlier that same day. Reports were that the man had then barricaded himself with the knife in his mother’s home.

TSG 535 responded to the location with another TSG unit. The men and women of both units staged at the end of the street and began putting on riot gear including rigid shin guards, elbow guards and flame-resistant coveralls. A riot helmet and a long Plexiglas shield completed each officer’s kit.

Both units formed separate sticks and moved up toward the suspect’s building along a low brick wall and prepared for entry. Part of one unit broke off and moved to the back of the house to act as a blocking force. A supervisor made contact with the mother of the house who assured that there was “no one else” in the house.

It would probably come as no surprise to police officers around the world, but the mother was lying. In fact, there were five people in the house, and all five were soon to be caught in the slow and certain squeeze of the TSG teams.

TSG officers entered the four-story home en masse with shields up and interlocking when they were able, forming a formidable barrier to anyone in the structure. Officers cleared each floor and room in an orderly fashion. When finding a subject in a room, the group of officers would press in with their shields, cornering the subject and pressing them tightly against the wall or furniture. Other officers then can reach in between the shields to handcuff the subject. Shields are angled out, allowing officers to retrieve the subject and escort them out of the house to an awaiting transport vehicle.

Systematically, the officers advanced through the house, looking much like a modern-day version of Roman legionnaires advancing into battle with their full-length shields. All of the subjects were arrested without much of a confrontation and the situation was solved.

TSG members also work in concert with Public Order personnel who deal with the many demonstrations in the city and must undergo strenuous training including actually being set on fire by a “petrol bomb”. Protesters are notorious for pelting officers with rocks, bottles, petrol bomb and nasty stuff like condoms filled with urine.

And the London Metropolitan Police come through these incidents with aplomb and still keep the peace. They even are required to wear a necktie underneath their Nomex coveralls and riot gear.

Professionalism and style. Hats off to our law enforcement friends across the pond – stay safe.