History of the Metropolitan Police

Special Patrol Group

The Special Patrol Group Unit was organised in 1961 to provide a centrally based mobile squad for combating particularly serious crime and other problems which could not be dealt with by local Divisions.

Members of the Special Patrol Group, 1965

The convenient presence of a disciplined, well-organised team brought the group into increased use for the control of demonstrations, where their presence sometimes came to assume unwanted symbolic significance.