Metropolitan Special Constabulary

Each Basic Command Unit (BCU) that provides policing for 2-4 London boroughs has a contingent of Special Constables supervised by a number of Special Sergeants, Special Inspectors and a Special Chief Inspector, who work in partnership with a number of regular officers. Most Command Units have more than 100 MSC officers and Westminster, the biggest, has over 300. Several Special Constables are sponsored by their employers' as part of the Employer Supported Policing (ESP) programme, in which employers release their employees for a specific amount of time frequently to perform policing duties. Special Constables have the freedom, to some degree, in the choice of Borough they work in, their duties and hours. The teams in which Specials work depends on their BCU - some choosing to task their Specials to Safer Neighbourhoods Teams (known in other constabularies as Neighbourhood Policing Teams), others to their Emergency Response and Patrol Teams (known colloquially as Response Teams), whilst others work on a variety of other local portfolios such as the Criminal Investigation Department, Safeguarding or with schools. Additionally, there are Special Constables who work for more specialist and non-local policing units such as the Marine Policing Unit, Heathrow Airport OCU (ID), Organised Crime, Roads & Transport Policing Command. ==Recruitment==

Special Constables undergo a structured recruitment process If a candidate is successful on assessment day, they have to pass national security vetting which can take anything from a few weeks to up to a year. If security and vetting checks prove satisfactory, a candidate is offered a place on an MSC Foundation Training Course. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the recruitment process was again split into two events known as Day One and Day Two respectively. On Day One, which is held virtually, candidates undergo the 20-minute competency-based interview with two serving officers or lay interviewers, whilst all other aspects of the recruitment process take place on Day Two. ==Training and equipment==

The MSC Foundation Training Course MSC officers receive no payment for duties they perform. However, they receive a subsistence allowance throughout their service, and during training can claim back costs for travel expenses, as well as additional expenses such as the cost of purchasing boots and a torch, which are not issued with uniform in the Metropolitan Police. Once they pass out of training and receive their Warrant Card, Special Constables are afforded free travel both on and off duty on the London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, London Buses the Tramlink, London Overground and TfL Rail with a Police Oyster Card by virtue of arrangements with Transport for London. ==Grades==

The MSC grade structure is as follows: • Special Constable - (SC) • Special Sergeant - (S/Sgt) • Special Inspector - (S/Insp) • Special Chief Inspector - (S/CI) • Assistant Chief Officer - (SACO) • Specials Deputy Chief Officer - (SDCO) • Specials Chief Officer MSC - (SCO) Special Chief Inspector (S/CI) and Deputy Chief Officer (DCO) ranks were removed in 2016, but following the change to 12 BCUs the role of Special Chief Inspector was reinstated and in February 2022 the role of Special Deputy Chief Officer was reinstated. MSC ranks are not like-for-like equivalents to those of regular police ranks and are simply administrative grades. This means that for example, a Special Sergeant or Inspector does not have the same legal authority as a Police Sergeant or Inspector under various Acts that make reference to the ranks. MPS policy states that regular officers take primacy at operational incidents regardless of the grade of any MSC officers present. As with regular ranks, MSC grades can be held on an 'acting', 'temporary' or 'substantive' basis. ==Supervision & leadership==

Within the Metropolitan Police Service, the MSC falls within Frontline Policing (FP) with the special chief officer being a member of the 'Frontline Policing Chief Officers Group' (FLPCOG). The current chief officer is James W Deller. List of chief commandants and chief officers • 1988-? Edgar Maybanks (former deputy assistant commissioner in the regular MPS) ==Insignia==

The main insignia which separates MSC from regular officers is the "SC & Crown" which is worn at the top of the epaulette by MSC officers of all ranks. Special Constables wear their "Borough Code", usually a two-letter code, which signifies which BCU or specialist unit they are attached to. Below this, at the bottom of their epaulette, is their Collar number, a four digit number beginning with a 5 or 8 if attached to Roads and Transport Policing Command or 9 if attached to Organised Crime. A Special Sergeant's insignia is similar to a Special Constable's except they have a 4-digit shoulder number beginning with 50 (or 80 for RTPC, 90 for Organised Crime). Officers ranked above sergeant do not wear borough codes or shoulder numbers. Unlike epaulette insignia, the Metropolitan Special Constabulary have the same Uniform Insignia as the Metropolitan Police where the Special ranks have equivalent designs as well as the Assistant Chief Officer wears equivalent uniform to a Commander/Assistant Chief Constable and the Chief Officer wears equivalent uniform to the Commissioner/Chief Constable. ==See also==