The News reported this week on the alarming experience of one Bermondsey man who woke up to find armed police officers in his garden.
We later learned that this was part of a raid on three men in Marden Square who were suspected of kidnapping three others. The operation, police told us, was led by a section of the police called the Flying Squad. But who are they, and why are they called that?
The Flying Squad are the Met’s elite group of police detectives tasked with tackling violent crime, with a history stretching back more than 100 years. They also have a more chequered past, with widespread corruption uncovered in the 1970s.
Three men are charged with kidnapping after armed police make dramatic raid on Bermondsey estate
The squad was formed in 1918, when Detective Chief Inspector Wensley brought together twelve detectives, with the aim of tackling serious and armed crime in London – which had been on the increase, according to the Met’s official history.
The new squad were put on a trial run, and given the power to roam throughout London in cars and a covered wagon rented to them by the Great Western Railway company. The horse-drawn wagon had spy-holes cut in the sides, allowing officers to peer through undetected.
They did well enough to be formed into a full squad by the end of the year, and given new cars with a top speed of 40mph, impressive for those days.
A decade on in 1929, the squad was given a new fleet of six cars that allowed detectives to get around even faster, and they began to get more widely known in the public consciousness.
Part of their job was to ride around in these cars and look out reactively for thefts, pickpocketing and other kinds of criminal activity. They would then jump out and try to arrest the wrongdoers.
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The officers were also encouraged to associate with criminals and spend time in known criminal hangouts, in order to build up contacts and stop crimes proactively.
Major operations over the years include successful efforts to stop robberies at Heathrow, and involvement in the investigation into famous East End gangsters the Kray twins and the Great Train Robbery.
Perhaps the squad’s most famous recent operation was the prevention of a plot to steal the famous De Beers Millennium Star diamond, and other diamonds, from the O2 Arena in Greenwich, then known as the Millennium Dome.
The £200 million diamond was on display as part of an exhibition at the dome in the year 2000. The team of six robbers used a JCB digger to break through the side of the building, using smoke bombs to sow confusion. They then used a nail gun and a sledgehammer to smash through the protected glass case housing the diamond itself. They planned to escape on the Thames on a boat they had moored next to the building.
But unbeknownst to them, the Flying Squad were well aware of their plans. Some 200 officers were stationed within the building, including some in plain clothes disguised as Dome staff.
Four suspects were arrested inside as they tried to smash into the display case and two more were arrested outside while providing surveillance. Six men were given sentences varying from five to eighteen years for the conspiracy.
Flying Squad detectives also arrested James Hurley, a man from Bermondsey, who they originally considered the mastermind of the plot. Hurley was not present on the day of the foiled robbery, and officers later tracked him down to the Costa del Sol in Spain.
Charges were eventually dropped because the crown prosecution service did not believe there was enough evidence to secure a conviction. A Scotland Yard source told the Daily Record newspaper at the time that they believed Hurley planned to sell the diamonds to the Russian mafia.
Despite this and many other successful operations by the Flying Squad, the unit has also suffered from major corruption, dating back to the 1970s.
The squad’s commander, Detective Chief Inspector Kenneth Drury was imprisoned for eight years after being convicted on five counts of corruption, for accepting bribes. Twelve other detectives in the squad were also sent to prison. And in 2001, three detectives were imprisoned for seven years each for taking part in a £1.5 million hijacking of a security van. Journalist Graeme McLagan found enough material to publish a book on police corruption, Bent Coppers.
Why are they called the Flying Squad?
Versions differ. The Met’s history says that a Daily Mail reporter called them “flying squad of picked detectives because of their mobility”, and the name stuck. The BBC reported that the squad had the name because they were not limited to any particular part of London, but could “fly” all over the city.
The Flying Squad were also called ‘Sweeney Todd’ in cockney rhyming slang, giving rise to the TV show The Sweeney.