There are also a number of civilian police forces whose role is to police parts of the Defence Estate, in the UK and overseas, such as the Ministry of Defence Police, but such forces are not considered military police.
Service police
In the UK, service police[1] are the formations of the British Armed Forces responsible for policing armed forces personnel. Each of the services has its own service police branch, a standalone unit responsible for policing, close protection of VIPs[2] and, in the case of the Royal Military Police and Royal Air Force Police, other matters such as traffic control.[3][4]
The Royal Air Force is policed by the Royal Air Force Police who are responsible not only for the policing of service personnel, but also a number of specialist security roles such as Counter Intelligence, physical security, cybersecurity and information security and Police Dogs.
The Special Investigation Branch is the name given to the detective branches of all three Service police arms: the Royal Navy Police, Royal Military Police and Royal Air Force Police. In December 2022 the separate SIBs were amalgamated into a single joint service unit called Defence Serious Crime Unit (DSCU).[5]
Civilian police forces
There are several civil police forces responsible to the Ministry of Defence. They each have specific roles and are staffed by police officers who are not part of the armed forces and have the powers of a constable.
The Ministry of Defence Police is the UK-based civilian police force of the Ministry of Defence. It is responsible for providing police, investigative and guarding services to Ministry of Defence property, personnel, and the Defence estate throughout the United Kingdom.