Royal Military Police in the 21stCentury
Like any organisation that wishes to remain relevant, the Royal Military Police (RMP) has evolved over recent years to ensure it is ready to operate in this complex, modern environment.
We exist to support operations overseas, however, our competence in our conduct in the UK, either individually or with our Home Office Police Force colleagues, gives us the credibility when we deploy.
Royal Military Police Personnel
The Royal Military Police (RMP) are made up of 1400 Regular personnel and 400 Reservists; these are spread across the UK, with people constantly deployed across the globe. The RMP of the 21stCentury is a diverse organisation, with 26% female representation, right across the hierarchy, including the next Chief: Brigadier Vivienne Buck, who will take over in July: the first ever female Provost Marshal (Army) in its 500 year + history.
‘The London Company’
One of our greatest successes is the link we share with the City: 253 ‘The London Company’ Provost Company is based in Tulse Hill and is closely associated with our Livery Company, The Worshipful Company of Security Professionals.
This Reserve unit is formed from a wide range of society, ranging from City and Metropolitan Police Officers to an ex-world champion boxer. ‘The London Company’ has a range of opportunities available to all including: undertaking top-class training; developing leadership abilities; the option to conduct specialist training, ranging from Close Protection to Counter-Fraud; and the ability to deploy on overseas on active operations.
People Are Our Key Strength but standards are high
The Royal Military Police is one of the very few areas of the Military that is over-recruited.
We are lucky. We can choose. We need to annually select the best 100, rather than just the first 100. Many of our people (regular and reservist) have degrees: We have a Chief Constable serving with the Reserves, a recently retired Labour MP, a world Karate Champion and a former world boxing champion. We are incredibly fortunate and having such superb quality people – it makes my job easy”. said Brigadier Neal “We have recently targeted the newly formed Government Counter Fraud profession to increase our counter-fraud capability. We had 45 applicants almost without trying!
The opportunities are not just limited to those in and around London, and the same opportunities can be found right across the organisation.
Our key strengths come directly from the quality of our people, both Regular and Reserve, who are trusted to operate independently of the chain of command, with masses of responsibility with total professionalism and integrity.
Look out for the distinctive ‘Redcap’ proudly worn by our people conducting joint patrolling activity with Civilian Police colleagues: at the Army/Navy Rugby fixture or with British Transport Police colleagues at Waterloo station. They may be Regular or Reserve but you won’t be able to tell the difference.
If you want to find out more or are interested in joining the RMP, either as a Regular or Reserve, you can find more here.
Brigadier Dave Neal, Provost Marshal (Army)
