Question: How many officers are apart of The Metropolitan Police Department?

Metropolitan Police Service




The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police and informally as the Met, is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London, which is policed by the much smaller City of London Police.
The Met also has significant national responsibilities, such as co-ordinating and leading on UK-wide national counter-terrorism matters and protecting the Royal Family, certain members of Her Majesty's Government and others as deemed appropriate.[9]  As the police force for the capital, the Met has significant unique responsibilities and challenges within its police area, such as protecting 164 foreign embassises and High Commissions[10], policing Heathrow Airport (the busiest airport in Europe), policing and protecting the Palace of Westminster, and dealing with significantly more protests and events than any other force in the country (3,500 such events in 2016).[10]
As of September 2017, the Met had 40,874 full-time personnel. This included 30,871 police officers, 8,005 police staff, 1,384 police community support officers and 614 designated officers.[11] This number excludes the 2,470 special constables, who work voluntarily part-time (a minimum of 16 hours a month) and who have the same powers and uniform as their regular colleagues. This makes the Metropolitan Police, in terms of officer numbers, the largest police force in the United Kingdom by a significant margin, and one of the biggest in the world.[12]  In terms of its police area (primary geographic area of responsibility), leaving its national responsibilities aside, the Met has the 8th smallest police area of the territorial police forces in the United Kingdom. 
The overall operational leader of the force is the Commissioner, whose formal title is Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. The Commissioner is answerable, responsible and accountable to The Queen, the Home Office and the Mayor of London, through the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime. The post of Commissioner was first held jointly by Sir Charles Rowan and Sir Richard Mayne.   Cressida Dick is the current Commissioner having been appointed in April 2017.
A number of informal names and abbreviations are applied to the Metropolitan Police Service, the most common being the Met. In colloquial London (or Cockney slang), it is sometimes referred to as the Old Bill.[13] The Met is also referred to as Scotland Yard after the location of its original headquarters in a road called Great Scotland Yard in Whitehall.[14] The Met's current headquarters is New Scotland Yard, situated on the Victoria Embankment.
History

The Metropolitan Police Service, whose officers became affectionately known as "bobbies", was founded in 1829 by Robert Peel under the Metropolitan Police Act 1829 and on 29 September of that year, the first units of the service appeared on the streets of London.[15] In 1839, the Marine Police Force, which had been formed in 1798, was amalgamated into the Metropolitan Police.[16]  In 1837, it also incorporated with the Bow Street Horse Patrol that had been organised in 1805.[17]
Governance

Since January 2012, the Mayor of London is responsible for the governance of the Metropolitan Police through the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC). The mayor is able to appoint someone to act on his behalf; the current office-holder is Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Sophie Linden. The work of MOPAC is scrutinised by the Police and Crime Committee (also known as a police and crime panel) of the London Assembly. These structures were created by the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 and replaced the Metropolitan Police Authority appointed board created in 2000 by Greater London Authority Act 1999.
Police area and other forces



The area policed by the Metropolitan Police Service is known as the Metropolitan Police District (MPD). In terms of geographic policing, the Met was divided into a number of 32 Borough Operational Command Units, which directly align with the 32 London boroughs covered.  Since 2017 this situation has changed as the Met has attempted to save money due to cuts in funding.  There is currently a period of transition which will result in the MPD being divided into 12 Basic Command Units made up of two or three boroughs.  There is criticism of these changes.[18]  The City of London (which is not a London borough) is a separate police area and is the responsibility of the separate City of London Police.
The Ministry of Defence Police are responsible for policing of Ministry of Defence property throughout the United Kingdom, including its headquarters in Whitehall and other MoD establishments across the MPD.[19]
The British Transport Police are responsible for policing of the rail network in the United Kingdom, including London. Within London, they are also responsible for the policing of the London Underground, Tramlink, The Emirates Air Line (cable car) and the Docklands Light Railway.[20]
The English part of the Royal Parks Constabulary, which patrolled a number of Greater London's major parks, was merged with the Metropolitan Police in 2004, and those parks are now policed by the Royal Parks Operational Command Unit.[21] There is also a small park police force, the Kew Constabulary, responsible for the Royal Botanic Gardens, whose officers have full police powers within the park. A few London borough councils maintain their own borough park constabularies, though their remit only extends to park by-laws, and although they are sworn as constables under laws applicable to parks, their powers are not equal to those of constables appointed under the Police Acts, meaning that they are not police officers.[22]
Metropolitan Police officers have legal jurisdiction throughout all of England and Wales, including areas that have their own special police forces, such as the Ministry of Defence, as do all police officers of territorial police forces.[23] Officers also have limited powers in Scotland and Northern Ireland.[24] Within the MPD, the Met will take over the investigation of any serious crime from the British Transport Police and Ministry of Defence Police, if it is deemed appropriate. Terrorist incidents and complex murder enquiries will almost always be investigated by the Met,[25][26] with the assistance of any relevant specialist force, even if they are committed on railway or Ministry of Defence property. A minor oddity to the normal jurisdiction of territorial police officers in England and Wales is that Met officers involved in the protection duties of the Royal Family and other VIPs have full police powers in Scotland and Northern Ireland in connection with those duties.[27]
Organisation and structure
[28]

The Metropolitan Police Service is organised into the following directorates:[29]
Frontline Policing
Met Operations
Specialist Operations
Directorate of Professionalism
Shared Support Services (part of Met Headquarters)
Each is overseen by an Assistant Commissioner, or in the case of administrative departments, a director of police staff, which is the equivalent civilian staff grade. The management board is made up of the Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Assistant Commissioners and Directors.
Ranks

The Metropolitan Police Service uses the standard British police ranks, indicated by shoulder boards, up to Chief Superintendent, but uniquely has five ranks above that level instead of the standard three; namely Commander, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner.[30] All senior officers of the rank of Commander and above are chief police officers of NPCC (previously ACPO) rank.
The Met approved the use of name badges in October 2003, with new recruits wearing the Velcro badges from September 2004. The badge consists of the wearer's rank, followed by their surname.[31]
Following controversy over assaults by uniformed officers with concealed shoulder identification numbers[32] during the G20 summit, Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said, "the public has a right to be able to identify any uniformed officer whilst performing their duty" by their shoulder identification numbers.[33]
The Met uniformed officer rank structure, with shoulder badge features, is as follows:
Police Constable (PC): Divisional call sign and shoulder number. Note that Detective Constables and Police Constables are the same rank.
Sergeant (Sgt or PS): Three pointing-down chevrons above the divisional call sign and shoulder number. An "acting" sergeant, such as a substantive constable being paid an allowance to undertake the duties of a sergeant for a short period of time, displays two pointing-down chevrons above the divisional call sign, and shoulder number. The use of three chevrons by an acting sergeant is technically incorrect.  Three chevrons should only be used during a period of temporary (as opposed to acting) promotion or when substantively in the rank.
Inspector (Insp): Two Order of the Bath stars, informally known as "pips".
Chief Inspector (C/Insp): Three pips.
Superintendent (Supt): Single crown.
Chief Superintendent (C/Supt): Single crown over one pip.
Commander (Cmdr): Crossed tipstaves in a bayleaf wreath. This is the first ACPO rank.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC): One pip over Commander's badge.
Assistant Commissioner (Asst Comm): Crown over Commander's badge.
Deputy Commissioner (D/Comm): Crown above two side-by-side small pips, above Commander's badge.
Commissioner (Comm): Crown above one pip above Commander's badge.

The Met also has several active Volunteer Police Cadet units, which maintain their own internal rank structure.[34] The Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC) is a contingent of part-time volunteer police officers and is attached to most Borough Operational Command Units. The MSC has its own internal rank structure.
The prefix "Woman" in front of female officers' ranks has been obsolete since 1999. Members of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) up to and including the rank of Chief Superintendent prefix their ranks with "Detective". Detective ranks are equivalent in rank to their uniform counterparts.  Other departments, such as Special Branch and Child Protection, award non-detectives "Branch Detective" status, allowing them to use the "Detective" prefix. None of these detective ranks confer on the holder any extra pay or supervisory authority compared to their uniformed colleagues.
Resources




The Metropolitan Police Service consists of regular police officers and volunteer part time special constables (both of whom have full police powers), and employed civilian staff and police community support officers.[35] The Met was the first force to introduce PCSOs. Unlike police staff and PCSOs, police officers are not employees: they are servants of the crown.  Funding for the Metropolitan police has been cut due to austerity.  Changes in the way the government pays for police pensions will lead to further cuts.[36]
Police numbers
Regular police officers: 30,871[11]
Police Community Support Officers: 1,384[11]
Police staff: 8,005[11]
Special Constables: 2,470[11]
Designated Officers: 614[11]
Dogs: around 250[37]
Horses: 120[38]
The Metropolitan police expects a funding squeeze in 2018 will reduce the number of police officers by 900.[39]
Historic numbers of police officers
2017: 30,817 [11]
2016: 32,125 [40]
2015: 31,877 [40]
2014: 30,932 (excluding 4,587 Special Constables)[41]
2013: 30,398 (excluding 5,303 Special Constables)[42]
2011: 32,380 (excluding 4,459 Special Constables)[43]
2010: 33,260 (excluding 3,125 Special Constables)[44]
2009: 32,543 (excluding 2,622 Special Constables)[45]
2004: 31,000 (approx)[46]
2003: 28,000 (approx)[46]
2001: 25,000 (approx)[47]
1984: 27,000 (approx)[48]
1965: 18,016[49]
1952: 16,400[50]
1912: 20,529[51]
1887: 14,191[52]
1852: 5,625[53]
Fleet
The Met operates and maintains a fleet of more than 8,000 vehicles,[54] which are used for a range of duties, including:[55]
Area Cars: used for patrol and 999 emergency response and are driven by advanced drivers.
Incident Response Vehicles (IRV) or Response Cars: used for patrol and 999 emergency response.

Armed Response Vehicle (ARV): Transports Authorised firearms officers, SFOs and CTSFOs to incidents involving firearms

Traffic Units : used to patrol the motorways and are pursuit authorized, enforce traffic laws and encourage road safety.
Protected Carriers: used for public order duties.
Control Units: used for incident command and control purposes.
Armoured Multi-role Vehicles: used for public order duties, airport duties or as required. Staffed by CTSFOs.
General Purpose Vehicles: used for general support and transportation duties of officers or equipment.
Training Vehicles: used to train police drivers under lights and sirens.
Miscellaneous Vehicles: such as horseboxes and trailers.
The majority of vehicles have a service life of three to five years; the Met replaces or upgrades between 800 and 1,000 vehicles each year. As of 2012, the Met has transitioned all new vehicles into the Battenburg markings, which is a highly-reflective material on the side of the vehicles, chequered blue and yellow (symbol of police). The old livery was an orange stripe through the vehicle, with the force's logo. However, these liveries are becoming hard to find, as all new vehicles are being fitted with Battenburg.
The National Police Air Service has a base at Lippitts Hill, in Essex, which houses three helicopters to support surrounding forces, including the Met.
A marine policing unit operates 22 vessels from its base in Wapping.

Budget

Annual expenditure for single years, selected by quarter centuries.[56]
1829/30: £194,126
1848: £437,441
1873: £1.1M
1898: £1.8M
1923: £7.8M
1948: £12.6M
1973: £95M
1998/9: £2.033bn
2011/12: £3.692bn
2017/18: £3.269bn[57]
In 2011/12, £2,754m was spent on staff wages.[58][59]
Crime figures

Crimes reported within the Metropolitan Police District, selected by quarter centuries.[60]
1829/30: 20,000
1848: 15,000
1873: 20,000
1898: 18,838
1923: 15,383
1948: 126,597
1973: 355,258
1998/9: 934,254
2017/18: 827,225[61]
Detection rates
The following table shows the percentage detection rates for the Metropolitan Police by offence group for 2010/11.[62]

The Metropolitan Police Service “screened out” 34,164 crimes the day they were reported in 2017 and did not investigate them further.  This compares to 13,019 the previous year. 18,093 crimes were closed in 24 hours during the first 5 months of 2018 making it likely that the 2017 total will be exceeded.  Crimes not being investigated include sexual assaults and arson, burglaries, thefts and assaults.  Critics maintain this shows the effect of austerity on the force’s ability to carry out its responsibilities.[63]
Specialist units
Diplomatic Protection Group – Provides personal armed protection for the Royal family, Prime Minister and other ministers, ambassadors and visiting heads of state. Special Operation units SO1 and SO14 merged in April 2015, to form RaSP (Royalty and Specialist Protection) which provides the roles above. The Diplomatic Protection Group (DPG) is responsible for providing armed officers that guard important residences such as Downing Street, but not Buckingham Palace and other palaces, as RaSP provides this.[64] The Special Escort Group (SEG) are responsible for escorting the Royal Family, Prime Minister and other ministers, ambassadors and visiting heads of state, and occasionally prisoner transport. They use motorcyclists to halt traffic, and use armed cars at the rear of the escort for armed assistance and traffic control. Once the escort has passed, the roads are immediately opened, different to how the United States handle police escorts, which tend to close the road off completely. All SEG officers are armed, the motorcycle officers carrying the Glock 17, and the car officers which utilize the more effective firearms such as the G36 and MP5 semi-automatic carbines.Their motto is "We lead, others follow".
Aviation Policing – Responsible for providing armed support and policing at Heathrow Airport and London City Airport.[65]
Flying Squad – A unit which investigates and intercepts robberies. The name comes from the fact its members travelled across divisional and borough boundaries.
Trident Gang Crime Command – Investigates and works to prevent gang crime.
Roads and Transport Policing Command – Provides policing for the transport network in London. However, the main division, the Traffic Division, patrols the roads, capable of securing Road Traffic Collisions (RTC), pursuing fleeing suspects and enforcing speed, safety, and drink driving.[66]
Specialist Firearms Command – (SCO19) Responsible for providing armed response and support across the whole of London with 3 Authorised Firearms Officers (AFO) travelling in ARVs (Armed Response Vehicles) responding to calls involving firearms and weapons, which may put a unarmed officers at risk. SCO19 has a small number of CTSFOs (Counter Terrorist Specialist Firearms Officers), who have a higher level of training.[67]
Dog Support Unit – (DSU) Provides highly trained dogs and police handlers. They are trained to detect drugs and firearms, respond to searches, missing people, and fleeing suspects. There is also a division which has bomb-detection dogs.[68]
Marine Policing Unit – (MPU) Provides policing on the waterways of London, responding to situations in the River Thames and tracking and stopping illegal vessels entering and exiting London.[69]
Mounted Branch – Provides policing on horseback in London. One of their duties is escorting the Royal Guard down The Mall, into and out of Buckingham Palace every morning from April to July, then occasionally through the remainder of the year. They also provide public order support and are commonly called to police football matches in the event of any unrest. All officers are trained in public order tactics on horseback.[70]
Territorial Support Group – (TSG) Highly trained officers, specialised in public order and large scale riots responding around London in marked Public Order Vehicles (POV) with 6 constables and a sergeant in each POV. They aim to: secure the capital against terrorism, respond to any disorder in London, and reduce priority crime through borough support. They respond in highly-protective uniform during riots or large disorder, protecting themselves from any thrown objects or hazards.[71]
The Air Support Unit was formerly a division within MPS, operating 3 EC145 helicopters based at Lippitts Hill, Essex. In October 2015, this was absorbed into the National Police Air Service - responsible for the operation of all police aviation in England and Wales. The staff previously based at the ASU are on full-time secondment to NPAS, still operating with the same helicopters and from the same base.
Vehicles
All vehicles listed are vehicles used by the Metropolitan Police at this current time.
Incident Response Vehicles (IRV) or also known as Response Cars:
Ford Focus Estate
Hyundai i30
Vauxhall Astra Estate
Peugeot 308
Ford Transit Custom
 BMW i3 
Area Cars (Pursuit authorised):
BMW 525D Estate
Volvo V40
Roads Policing Units (RPU) or also known as Traffic Units (Pursuit authorised):
Volvo V70
Mitsubishi Shogun
BMW 530D Estate
BMW X5
BMW R1200RT-P
BMW F800GT-P
BMW R1200GS
Armed Response Vehicles (ARV):
BMW X5
Ford C-Max
VW Sharan
Vauxhall Zafira
Public Order Vehicles (POV):
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
Dog Support Units (DSU):
Ford Mondeo
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter
Mercedes-Benz Vito
Mitsubishi Shogun
Prisoner Transport Units (PTU) and Officer Carriers:
Ford Transit
Ford Transit Custom
Vauxhall Vivaro
Ford Tourneo Custom
Special Escort Group (SEG):
Honda VFR1200
Range Rover Vogue
Miscellaneous Vehicles:
Ford Super Duty (Modified/Armoured) 'Jankel' - Armed Airport Duties/Riot Control (Armoured Vehicle)
Renault Midlum - Vehicle Recovery & Examination
Vauxhall Movano - Commercial Vehicle Unit
Mercedes-Benz Actros - Cycle Safety Unit
Land Rover Discovery - Ordnance Disposal Team
Iveco Stralis - Police Horse Box
Vauxhall Combo - Forensic Services
Stations
In addition to the headquarters at New Scotland Yard, there are many police stations in London.[72] These range from large borough headquarters staffed around the clock every day to smaller stations, which may be open to the public only during normal business hours, or on certain days of the week. In 2017, there were 73 working front counters open to the public in London.[73]

Most police stations can easily be identified from one or more blue lamps located outside the entrance, which were introduced in 1861.
The oldest Metropolitan police station, which opened in Bow Street in 1881, closed in 1992 and the adjoining Bow Street Magistrates' Court heard its last case on 14 July 2006.[74] The oldest operational police station in London is in Wapping, which opened in 1908. It is the headquarters of the marine policing unit (formerly known as Thames Division), which is responsible for policing the River Thames. It also houses a mortuary and the River Police Museum.
Paddington Green Police Station, which is no longer operational, received much publicity for its housing of terrorism suspects in an underground complex prior to its closure in 2017.
In 2004, there was a call from the Institute for Public Policy Research for more imaginative planning of police stations to aid in improving relations between police forces and the wider community.[75]
Officers killed in the line of duty


The Police Memorial Trust lists and commemorates all British police officers killed in the line of duty, and since its establishment in 1984 has erected dozens of memorials to some of those officers.
See also


999 (emergency telephone number)
Aerial roof markings
Crimint
Cybercrime
Hendon Police College
London Emergency Services Liaison Panel
Metropolitan police role in phone hacking scandal
New Scotland Yard
News International phone hacking scandal
Police Forces of the United Kingdom
Police National E-Crime Unit
Project Griffin
Institutional racism
Regal, Olga, and Upstart, three MPS horses decorated for bravery during the Blitz
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Scotland Yard
Super recognisers
Bent Coppers, detailing police corruption within the Metropolitan Police Service
The Met: Policing London

Other London emergency services:
City of London Police
London Air Ambulance
London Ambulance Service
London Fire Brigade