Recent news articles have reported on new British Prime Minister David Cameron's decision to cut back on his personal security to help him remain "one of the people". The most notable change is the one to not use the "motorcycle outriders" available as part of his motorcade.
There have also been some instances where he has elected to walk short distances (for example from Downing Street to the Houses of Parliament). This is often seen in new leaders who, quite understandably struggle to adjust to a life more in the public eye -- one authorised with more power, access to classified information, and the inevitable risk to their security. Simply Googling obama blackberry will provide a prime example of this.
Steering clear of the whole discussion around whether Cameron is right to do this, I instead shall focus on these elusive "motorcycle outriders", for their job interests me. I don't know why it does, though most likely it's because I'm a guy and anything involving the police, guns and bodyguards gets my interest. So yeah, I'm going to blame testosterone! Also, I suspect there's a little "hippocampal stimulation" (no way is that a real phrase!) going on as I greatly admire those who can confidently and successfully navigate London's maze (where much of these elusive motorcycle outriders carry out their work).
As usual, the press spend little time focusing on all the elements of the story and instead seek to sensationalise it. So you end up with headlines such as (I may have made these up by the way!):
Guardian: "Cameron elects not to use his motorcycle escorts."
Daily Mail: "Cameron ditches bike cops."
The Sun: "Our new dear leader sticks two fingers up to Bin Laden selflessly facing terror threat!"
Daily Express: "Will new PM Cameron re-open investigation into Diana murder?"
So this blog post focuses on a unit of the Metropolitan Police Service, -- a specialist operations unit known as The Special Escort Group
"This elite unit of the Metropolitan Police consists of officers with a range of skills and operational experience from various policing backgrounds. One motorcyclist (lead bike) positions himself in front of the escort, controlling the pace and position of the escort, whilst the others forge ahead, dealing with traffic situations and advising the lead bike of the safest path through the traffic they are controlling. SEG officers on BMW motorcycles, use whistles in preference to the sirens on their motorcycles. This reduces the level of noise that precedes an escort and reduces the environmental impact on the escorted person and general public.
Officers from The Special Escort Group are among the few police motorcyclists within the UK that carry firearms openly whilst riding."
- "Sourced from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License."
It's a well regarded opinion that one of the biggest threats faced by a motorcade is when in a stationary position. The old adage that "a moving target is harder to hit" certainly applies here. At the same time, it is much less accepted in the UK that even a VIP (royal, or ministerial) and their close protection team should be able to cause much disruption to the lives of every day citizens. So the policy of completely closing roads and shutting down cities to allow a huge motorcade to pass for the visit of the Prime Minister or Queen would be met with much disdain and anger. Instead, a much more low-key, hassle free stance is taken. This approach is in generally much different to that of the U.S. authorities -- and that's not to criticise this method, it's simply to highlight the differences.
I have never seen the Special Escort Group in action, but hope to do so one day as I'm a sucker for watching the work of masters.
On doing a search for further information about the Special Escort Group, I came across a very interesting article (one which I recommend reading) written several years ago by a journalist who had the fortune of riding with SEG. The video (sadly it's been edited to have loud music in the background - I'm presuming to block out the important transmissions) which goes with the article is also available here.
Below are a few examples of the Special Escort Group (SEG) in action. I just love how quaintly British the use of their whistles to control the situation is. Perhaps we're just too desperate not to offend anyone!
(Note that some of these videos are quite jerky so might not be suitable for those who don't cope well with those things)
You can hear many whistles from the bikes that have ridden ahead here
Princess Anne motorcade. Good view of the officers controlling the situation
Kate Middleton Motorcade
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown on his way to Buckingham Palace to resign.
Prince Charles being taken through the streets of London.
A surprise for one cyclist riding around London.
Another good example of quick control of the traffic.
You can see more photos of the "Special Escort Group" on Flickr.
There have also been some instances where he has elected to walk short distances (for example from Downing Street to the Houses of Parliament). This is often seen in new leaders who, quite understandably struggle to adjust to a life more in the public eye -- one authorised with more power, access to classified information, and the inevitable risk to their security. Simply Googling obama blackberry will provide a prime example of this.
Steering clear of the whole discussion around whether Cameron is right to do this, I instead shall focus on these elusive "motorcycle outriders", for their job interests me. I don't know why it does, though most likely it's because I'm a guy and anything involving the police, guns and bodyguards gets my interest. So yeah, I'm going to blame testosterone! Also, I suspect there's a little "hippocampal stimulation" (no way is that a real phrase!) going on as I greatly admire those who can confidently and successfully navigate London's maze (where much of these elusive motorcycle outriders carry out their work).
As usual, the press spend little time focusing on all the elements of the story and instead seek to sensationalise it. So you end up with headlines such as (I may have made these up by the way!):
Guardian: "Cameron elects not to use his motorcycle escorts."
Daily Mail: "Cameron ditches bike cops."
The Sun: "Our new dear leader sticks two fingers up to Bin Laden selflessly facing terror threat!"
Daily Express: "Will new PM Cameron re-open investigation into Diana murder?"
So this blog post focuses on a unit of the Metropolitan Police Service, -- a specialist operations unit known as The Special Escort Group
Officers from The Special Escort Group are among the few police motorcyclists within the UK that carry firearms openly whilst riding."
- "Sourced from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License."
It's a well regarded opinion that one of the biggest threats faced by a motorcade is when in a stationary position. The old adage that "a moving target is harder to hit" certainly applies here. At the same time, it is much less accepted in the UK that even a VIP (royal, or ministerial) and their close protection team should be able to cause much disruption to the lives of every day citizens. So the policy of completely closing roads and shutting down cities to allow a huge motorcade to pass for the visit of the Prime Minister or Queen would be met with much disdain and anger. Instead, a much more low-key, hassle free stance is taken. This approach is in generally much different to that of the U.S. authorities -- and that's not to criticise this method, it's simply to highlight the differences.
I have never seen the Special Escort Group in action, but hope to do so one day as I'm a sucker for watching the work of masters.
On doing a search for further information about the Special Escort Group, I came across a very interesting article (one which I recommend reading) written several years ago by a journalist who had the fortune of riding with SEG. The video (sadly it's been edited to have loud music in the background - I'm presuming to block out the important transmissions) which goes with the article is also available here.
Below are a few examples of the Special Escort Group (SEG) in action. I just love how quaintly British the use of their whistles to control the situation is. Perhaps we're just too desperate not to offend anyone!
(Note that some of these videos are quite jerky so might not be suitable for those who don't cope well with those things)
You can hear many whistles from the bikes that have ridden ahead here
Princess Anne motorcade. Good view of the officers controlling the situation
Kate Middleton Motorcade
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown on his way to Buckingham Palace to resign.
Prince Charles being taken through the streets of London.
A surprise for one cyclist riding around London.
Another good example of quick control of the traffic.
You can see more photos of the "Special Escort Group" on Flickr.
No comments:
Post a Comment