The Royal Military Police
| Published date | 01 July 1964 |
| Date | 01 July 1964 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X6403700707 |
| Subject Matter | Police Journal Correspondent |
POLICE
JOURNAL
CORRESPONDENt
THE
ROYAL
MILITARY
POLICE
Earlier this year the Royal Military Police moved to their first
permanent depot at the Roussillon Barracks, Chichester, formerly
the home of the Royal Sussex Regiment and converted to its new
purpose at a cost of £454,000.
The Military Police, Royal since 1946, and with a permanent
officer corps only since 1955, are officially" soldiers first and police-
men
second"
in the words of the Corps Commandant, Col. Antony
Rawlings. But when I enjoyed the Corps' hospitality at its new depot
recently, I found that quite a number of officers looked upon them-
selves primarily as policemen, particularly the large proportion
amongst their number
of
former civil policemen, both from this
country and from overseas.
Nevertheless, judging solely from Col. T. E. St. Johnston's article
in a recent issue of
THE
POLICE
JOURNAL,
there would seem to be a
great similarity here to the emphasis placed upon the military as
opposed to the police side of training as in the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police. There are, however, considerable differences in the
length of training and the frequency of refresher courses.
Very much the same qualities are looked for in the recruit to the
military police as are looked for in the civil police, though generally,
it would seem, the educational and intelligence attainments de-
manded, although high by army standards, are slightly below those
required of the probationary constable. The recruit's training is
completed in 16 weeks, of which the first six are exclusively military
in character. The wastage rate at this stage is high-possibly five
out of a squad of 20 will fail to complete the course.
On passing out, the military policeman will have a basic grounding
in military law and court martial procedure; in the civil law relating
to the commoner crimes-larceny, malicious damage and assault,
for example; in traffic control and road traffic generally, and in
powers of arrest and rules of evidence which are, of course, basically
the same in both civil and military law.
Promotion prospects in the Royal Military Police are good. A
" bright
boy",
I was told, should be able to make corporal in 18
months and acting sergeant after five years. In order to achieve this
he must first pass a junior promotion course of six weeks and subse-
quently a senior course of three. In general the promotion courses
follow the same pattern as the recruit's training though, in view of the
Corps' small size (about 2,000 all ranks), considerable emphasis is
placed on the ability of the instructed themselves to instruct in
their turn.
July 1964 326
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