User talk:Henry166623

https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1984-11-19/debates/c006b9a4-ed80-4c5a-a4b4-4d76a371759b/MetropolitanPolice(DistrictSupportUnits) What were District Support Units in the Metropolitan Police Service?

DISTRICT SUPPORT UNIT. Tribute

The Immediate Response Units started in 1981 post Brixton Riots. Born out of events in the previous years it was to be the DSUs that took on public order events in London for the next years in some of the testing of times, population and crime on the increase. Traffic warden carriers and hire vehicles staffed from 2 Inspectors, 3 Sergeants and 33 P.C.s on each division. First issued with green army surplus helmets. Equipment improved and there was an issue of 2 liveried carriers per district including the magnificent diesel transit. The vehicles were not fit for purpose loaded with officers, kitbags and shields. The IRU morphed into the DSU and were immediately more friendly because of the title. The DSUs worked a 3 week shift rota of 8 hr shifts from 08:00 to 02:00. 08:00 to 16:00 hrs were District Reserve as callsign -31 the 10.00 to18.00 were Commissioners Reserve. So across London there would be 12 DR and 12 CR. The 16.00 to Midnight were -33 and 18.00 to 02.00 were -32 with the Insp. Every 3rd Friday was a training day when the teams attended the Hounslow Public Order facility for shield training. Sherpa carriers gradually replaced the transits for a more comfortable ride. Postings were for 3 or 4 months, officers got to know their whole District outside of their Sub Divisions. DSU postings were for tough men only but near the end the Met allowed one tough woman per District. Postings on DSUs led to enduring friendships which last to this day. The Commissioner Mr Newman was in the process of devolving the SPG. During this period District Support Units took the brunt of disorder and much terrorism on the streets of London, including rioting at Broadwater Farm. A reminder of the severity they faced is the Harrods Bombing. With increasing wide spread Public Order events becoming the norm he needed to preseve a pool of officers ready to respond. The TSG was born on 1/1/87. With the SPG providing the core of each unit on the 8 areas. Team building exercises took place in the month of January with existing SPG officers that remained joining the new TSG. A hotchpot of crews covered the Districts until the elite TSG were ready to go on the 12/1/87. From early beginnings in 1981 to the transition to the TSG in 1987 the use of the DSU in some of the most difficult years of policing where many tests were endured, hundreds of officers, SPG, DSU and TSG dedicated themselves to the protection of London.

District Support Units Metropoitan Police
Why were the DSU’s almost left out of history? Henry166623 (talk) 22:00, 1 June 2020 (UTC)

To combat crime & fill the gap on public order policing. Henry166623 (talk) 22:52, 1 June 2020 (UTC)

Your draft article, Draft:District Support Units, Metropolitan Police 1981- 87


Hello, Henry166623. It has been over six months since you last edited the Articles for Creation submission or Draft page you started, "District Support Units".

In accordance with our policy that Wikipedia is not for the indefinite hosting of material deemed unsuitable for the encyclopedia mainspace, the draft has been deleted. If you plan on working on it further and you wish to retrieve it, you can request its undeletion by following the instructions at this link. An administrator will, in most cases, restore the submission so you can continue to work on it.

Thanks for your submission to Wikipedia, and happy editing. Liz Read! Talk! 14:17, 7 November 2020 (UTC)