Police vehicles in the United Kingdom

London Metropolitan Police vehicles assembled on Horse Guards outside the Churchill War Rooms for RideLondon cycling event.

The police forces in the UK use a wide range of operational vehicles including compact cars, powerful estates and armoured police carriers. The main uses are patrol, response, tactical pursuit, and public order policing. Other vehicles used by British police include motorcycles, aircraft, and boats.

Incident response vehicle (IRV)

Police Scotland Vauxhall Astra Incident response vehicle in Edinburgh

Incident response vehicles (IRVs) are used by UK police to respond to emergencies and to conduct proactive patrols. They are fitted with blue lights and sirens to warn other road users and pedestrians vehicles that they need to make way for the police vehicle. Prisoner transport vans are used as IRVs, and also have the capability to transport arrested suspects in a cage.

Officers driving IRVs typically hold a 'response' permit, allowing them to utilise blue lights and sirens to make an emergency response. Some officers may not have undergone the additional training, and as such are only permitted to use emergency equipment when positioned at a scene or to pull over a vehicle. Officers who have undergone additional training to reach 'initial pursuit phase' standard are allowed to pursue vehicles, should they fail to stop.

Marked variants of these cars typically feature yellow and blue battenburg markings on each side of car with 'Police' lettering on the front and rear of the vehicle. Service badges or slogans can usually be found on the front and sides of marked cars in most areas.

IRVs will generally carry equipment and lighting for use at traffic incidents, such as traffic cones, warning signs and basic first aid equipment. Many response cars in the UK now also carry mobile technology which can be linked to police databases and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology.

Armed response vehicles (ARV)

Main article: Armed response vehicle

Excluding the Police Service of Northern Ireland, police officers in the United Kingdom do not typically carry firearms. There are, however, a number of armed response vehicles (ARVs) in each police force area in which authorised firearms officers are carried.

Roads policing units (RPU)

Main article: Roads Policing Unit

Roads policing units vehicles, also known as traffic cars, are faster police vehicles used by pursuit trained officers who are tasked responding to serious traffic collisions and conducting high speed pursuits, as well as traffic enforcement. RPU cars carry specialist equipment, such as traffic cones, road closure signs or collisions, and scene preservation equipment. These vehicles are usually fitted with ANPR to assist in traffic enforcement.

Historically, cars such as the Wolseley 4/50 & 6/80, Austin Mini, Jaguar Mark 2, Rover P6, Rover SD1, Austin Metro, Rover 800 and Vauxhall Senator were commonly used.

Most roads policing vehicles are rated as 'high-performance', requiring traffic officers to undergo additional driving training to the 'advanced' standard. Officers are also commonly trained in the Tactical Pursuit and Containment (TPAC) manoeuvre to bring a pursuit to a halt.

Some services' roads policing units also operate road crime teams, who use unmarked and high performance vehicles to focus on organised criminals using the road to commit offences.

Area cars

Area cars sit between IRVs and RPUs. They are usually higher-performance vehicles similar to those in RPUs but operated by officers on response teams who respond to general emergency calls. Area car drivers are trained in advanced driving with initial and advanced phased pursuit. Only a small number of services use area cars, the most prevalent being the Metropolitan Police.

Motorcycles

Main article: Police motorcycle

Motorcycles are used by a number of services; usually the road policing unit. Police motorcycles are also used in road safety initiatives such as Bikesafe, a national programme to reduce motorcycle casualties where police motorcyclists provide advanced rider training to members of the public.

Some Metropolitan Police Special Escort Group officers and Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection also use motorcycles.

A variety of motorcycles have been used by police. The Honda ST1300 Pan-European was a popular bike, but it was withdrawn from service by most forces in 2007, following the death of a Merseyside police motorcyclist in 2005 in an accident caused by an instability in the model when outfitted with police equipment.

Vans and minibuses

Main article: Police van

Police vans are widely used across the United Kingdom and incorporate a cage to hold prisoners. Although in the United States it is usual to carry a prisoner in a police car, some British forces do not permit this, as most police cars have no barrier between the front and back seats to protect the officers. Each police force has different policies on prisoner transportation. Some allow compliant prisoners to be transported in response cars, ensuring that one officer sits in the rear with the prisoner, and the prisoner sits behind the passenger seat.

Larger vans are also used to act as mobile control room at major incidents, and may also carry specialised equipment such as hydraulic door entry and cutting tools.

City of London Police public disorder response vehicle

Minibuses are used to carry groups of police officers, for example to public order and major incidents, and for inner-city patrols, such as the Metropolitan Police's Territorial Support Group. The minibuses are usually fitted with riot shields to protect the windscreen from damage. More recently, as a result of reinforced glass being used, public order vans are not fitted with cages over the windscreen.

Metropolitan Police Jankel Guardians engaged on an operation. These are utilised by public order and armed officers for high-profile operations and airport patrols.

Other vehicles

British police officers on custom Smith & Wesson bicycles in Brighton

• Dog unit cars/vans
• Horse trailers
• Vehicle removal trucks
• Mobile custody units
• Bicycles

Livery and lighting

Almost all police forces use the battenburg pattern of yellow and blue retroreflective checks for their vehicles, on top of the base vehicle colour.

Most police cars, vans and minibuses have aerial roof markings that help aircraft crew identify them. These can include the unique force code, vehicle identifying mark, or police division that the vehicle belongs to.

Under the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989, police vehicles may display blue flashing lights to alert other road users to their presence or when the driver feels that the journey needs to be undertaken urgently. These lights are usually mounted on the roof and incorporated into the standard vehicle system of external lights. Most police vehicles are also fitted with a siren. In addition to blue lights, many traffic and incident response cars are fitted with flashing red lights that are only visible at the rear of the vehicle. These indicate that the vehicle is stopped or moving slowly.

Equipment

Police vehicles may carry:

• Speed gun
• Enforcer battering ram
• First aid kit
• Traffic cones
• Police warning signs
• Fire extinguisher
• Torch
• Police caution / crime scene tape
• Duty bag with high-visibility clothing
• Breathalyser
• Personal flotation device
• Stinger spike strip

Whilst officers typically carry their personal equipment – such as their baton, CS/PAVA spray and Taser on their body – armed officers store most weaponry in a gun safe. This is located in the rear of the vehicle, and can be accessed from the front. Armed officers do, however, always carry their other PPE and sidearm on their person.

Runlock system

Most cars and police motorcycles are fitted with a 'Runlock' system. This allows the vehicle's engine to be left running without the keys being in the ignition. This enables adequate power, without battery drain, to be supplied to the vehicle's equipment at the scene of an incident. The vehicle can only be driven after re-inserting the keys. If the keys are not re-inserted, the engine will switch off if the handbrake is disengaged or the footbrake is activated; or the sidestand is flipped up in the case of a motorcycle. Runlock is also commonly used when an officer is required to quickly decamp from a vehicle or to keep the vehicle Mobile data terminal running. By enabling Runlock, the car's engine can be left running without the risk of someone stealing the vehicle: if the vehicle is driven normally, it will shut down, unless the Runlock system is turned off.

Aircraft

An EC145 helicopter at Heathrow Airport, now operated by the National Police Air Service

One of the National Police Air Service's EC135 aircraft, which make up the majority of their fleet. The larger EC145 aircraft are primarily reserved for use in London.

Main article: Police aviation in the United Kingdom

All police air support in England and Wales is provided by the National Police Air Service (NPAS). NPAS uses Eurocopter EC135 and EC145 helicopters, alongside Vulcanair P68R planes. Twin engined aircraft are required, as air support units (ASU) are often required to fly over urban areas.

Aircraft are fitted with an array of surveillance, navigation and communication technology to help them with a wide variety of tasks. The specific tasks that any one police helicopter performs will vary from force to force, but common deployments are for missing person searches, vehicle pursuits, the tracking of suspects, and maintaining public order.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate air support units. Police Scotland utilises a single EC135, whilst the Police Service of Northern Ireland operates two EC135 and one EC145 helicopters.

Police aircraft can be used for MEDEVACs, however, these are rarely performed due to the availability of HM Coastguard helicopters and charitably funded air ambulances – both of which offer enhanced medical care with the availability of a paramedic and/or doctor on board.

Crew

A single pilot civilian operates each aircraft. Most pilots operating police aircraft come from a military background – and as such have the required flying hours and experience to safely fly at low-levels and for prolonged periods of time.

The standard crew in a police helicopter consists of two tactical flight officers (TFO). A front seat observer is responsible for operating the helicopter's surveillance systems. The rear seat observer, responsible for communications using the TETRA radio and downlink systems. NPAS' P68 fixed-wing aircraft only operate with one TFO due to weight restrictions.

TFOs are sworn police officers who have extensive experience on the ground, and also carry all the equipment a normal police officer would onboard – should the aircraft be required to land to assist or make an arrest. All pilots are civilians, and have no police powers.

Watercraft

Metropolitan Police Marine Policing Unit on the River Thames

Police forces whose area includes significant waterways often include marine support units. Not only do these units police the waterways, but they also maintain a capability for waterborne rescue, usually in co-operation with HM Coastguard.

See also

• Jam sandwich livery (Phased out of London Metropolitan Police Service in 2012)

External links

• Restored examples of many types of UK police vehicles
• Western Counties (Avon & Somerset and Gloucestershire) Police Helicopter Information Page
• United Kingdom Emergency Vehicles (mainly police)
• UK and International Emergency Vehicles, including police
• Private collection