Ministry of Defence Police

Who they are and what they do...

1. The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) is a civilian police force which is funded by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to protect and secure key MOD assets from armed attack or the threat of attack. Some of those assets are nuclear weapons and require the highest possible degree of protection.
2. The country as a whole is at a high state of alert for terrorist attacks and the MDP must maintain continued vigilance. To achieve this aim some high security MOD sites are patrolled by armed officers 24/7 for 365 days a year.
3. MDP officers have full police powers and a wide range of resources: including the country's largest marine and dog policing units
4. The MDP's aim is to act as a powerful deterrent, effectively making terrorist attack against key Defence assets a less viable option
5. All of our 2,600 officers are firearms'trained and we follow national police guidelines on the use of firearms
6. The MDP activity to protect Defence assets has knock—on benefits for everyone's safety, including the safety of military families and MOD employees, both military and civilian
7. MDP also polices protests and demonstrations, to ensure they don't interfere illegally with military activities or place the safety of anyone at risk
8. The protection of Defence assets by the MDP also extends to investigating theft of any of those assets, or fraud carried out against the MOD. Theft and fraud are a drain on military front—line resources