Home Office Guidelines on the work of a Special Branch
01 January 1991
Home Office Guidelines on the work of a Special Branch
bacdoc May=1991
Status and organisation
1. Each of the police forces in England and Wales has its own Special
Branch. Except for the Metropolitan Police Special Branch, which has
responsibilities in relation to Irish Republican extremism and terrorism
throughout Great Britain, the responsibility of each Special Branch relates
only to the area of the force of which it is a part.
2. All members of a Special Branch are responsible to the chief officer
of the force through the head of the Branch and any intervening supervisory
ranks in the force structure.
Specific functions
3. The specific functions fisted below comprise those tasks which will
most commonly fall to be undertaken by the force Special Branch. However,
in some force areas, it may be necessary or desirable for some of these
functions to be undertaken by other parts of the force CID or a specialist
unit. It will be an operational matter for each chief officer to decide
how best to utilise his resources within the force Special Branch.
4. The work of a Special Branch arises from the chief officer's
responsibility for the preservation of the Queen's Peace. Its work is to
assist the chief officer in discharging this responsibility.
5. A Special Branch gathers information about threats to public order.
Such information will enable the Branch to provide assessments of whether
marches, meetings, demonstrations and pickets pose any threat to public
order and help the chief officer to determine an appropriate level of
policing.
6. A Special Branch assists the Security Service in carrying out its
tasks of defending the realm against attempts at espionage and sabotage or
from the actions of persons and organisations whether directed from within
or without the country which may be judged to be subversive to the State.
A large part of this effort is devoted to the study and investigation of
terrorism, including the activities of international terrorists and
terrorist organisations.
7. A Special Branch provides information about extremists and terrorist
groups to the Security Service (or, in the case of Irish Republican
extremists and terrorist groups, to the Metropolitan Police Special
Branch).
8. A Special Branch assists in the application of the Travel Notification
Scheme for diplomats and officials.
9. Special Branch officers may provide armed personal protection for
certain people who are judged to be at risk. Particular attention should
be paid to anyone who may plan to harm prominent individuals for political
reasons or because of mental disturbance.
10. At airports and seaports, Special Branch officers
- arrest wanted criminals
- detect offences
- gather information relating to their other functions and other
criminal matters
- act as examining officers under the legislation on the prevention of
terrorism
11. On behalf of the Immigration and Nationality Department of the Home
Office, a Special Branch may be asked to carry out naturalisation
enquiries, and may assist with immigration enquiries as well as deal with
the registration of foreign nationals. A Special Branch may also be
involved in prosecutions related to these matters. In practice much of the
routine work in these areas may be undertaken by other parts of the force;
the appropriate organisational structure will be determined by the size of
the force and the number and nature of these enquiries.
12. A Special Branch should enquire into the implications of any offence
connected with firearms and explosives unless it is immediately clear that
there is no security interest. It may be advisable to include in force
orders an instruction that Special Branch be informed immediately of all
such cases coming to the notice of the police.
Relations with others
13. The Metropolitan Police Special Branch is respons