Ministry of Defence Police

The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) is a civilian special police force which is part of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. The MDP's primary responsibilities are to provide armed security and counter terrorism services to designated high-risk areas, as well as uniformed policing and limited investigative services to Ministry of Defence property, personnel, and installations throughout the United Kingdom. The MDP are not military police. Service personnel often refer to the MDP by the nickname "MOD plod".

Ministry of Defence Police
Seal
Flag
AbbreviationMDP
Agency overview
Formed1971
Preceding agency
Annual budget£180 million
Jurisdictional structure
National agency
(Operations jurisdiction)
United Kingdom
Operations jurisdictionUnited Kingdom
Legal jurisdictionMDP jurisdiction
Constituting instrument
  • Ministry of Defence Police Act 1987
General nature
Operational structure
Overviewed byMinistry of Defence Police Committee
HeadquartersRAF Wyton, Cambridgeshire, England
Constables2,594
Elected officer responsible
Agency executives
Divisions2
Facilities
Stations37
Website
www.mod.police.uk

The force was formed in 1971 by the merger of three separate service constabularies: the Air Force Department Constabulary, the Army Department Constabulary, and the Admiralty Constabulary. The force, which consists of two divisions, is headquartered at RAF Wyton, Cambridgeshire.

The MDP underwent a significant restructuring as part of the coalition government's post-2010 austerity measures, and the Strategic Defence and Security Review. Its budget was cut from £360 million to £180 million and it was to lose 20% of its manpower and up to 50% of its stations by 2016.

As of March 2019, the force had a workforce of around 2,549 police officers and 227 police staff based at numerous defence and infrastructure locations across the United Kingdom. The MDP has the second highest number of officers trained as AFOs of any police force, after the Metropolitan Police Service, who as of March 2019, had 2,623 AFOs.

In 2016, MDP officers made 61 arrests. Comparatively, in the year ending March 2017, a territorial police forces with similar numbers of officers, Sussex Police, made 17,506 arrests.

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