Special Branch was a unit in theMetropolitan Police in London, formed as acounter-terrorism unit in 1883 and merged with another unit to formCounter Terrorism Command (SO15) in 2006. It maintained contact with theSecurity Service (MI5) and had responsibility for, among other things, personal protection of (non-royal)VIPs and performing the role of examining officer at designated ports and airports, as prescribed by theTerrorism Act 2000.
In response to the escalatingterror campaign in Britain carried out by the militantIrish Fenians in the 1880s, theHome SecretarySir William Harcourt established the firstcounter-terrorism unit ever in 1883, named Special Irish Branch, to combat Irish republican terrorism through infiltration and subversion. It initially formed a section of theCriminal Investigation Department within theLondon Metropolitan Police.[1]
Harcourt envisioned a permanent unit dedicated to the prevention of politically motivated violence through the use of modern techniques such asundercover infiltration. This pioneering branch was the first to be trained in counter-terrorism techniques.[2] In 1886 its name was changed to Special Branch as its remit had gradually expanded[3][4]to incorporate a general role in counter-terrorism, combating foreign subversion, and infiltratingorganized crime and trade unions,[5][6] becoming the largestSpecial Branch in the United Kingdom. Although it later became independent of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), its officers were entitled to use the prefix "Detective" in front of their ranks.
Special Branch investigated theGeneral Post Office Tower bombing in 1971 and the following year the investigative wing of its "X squad" became theAnti-Terrorist Branch (SO13).[7] It also investigated the sieges atBalcombe Street in 1975 and theIranian Embassy in 1980, theLibyan Embassy shooting in 1984, along with the bombings atHyde Park and Regents Park in 1982,Harrods in 1983,Brighton in 1984 andBishopsgate in 1993.
The attempted bombing byNezar Hindawi of anEl Al flight from Heathrow to Israel in 1986 was also investigated by Special Branch, along withProvisional IRA mortar attacks onDowning Street in 1991 andHeathrow in 1994 and theirCanary Wharf bomb in 1996. Beyond that campaign, it led the investigations into the racist and homophobic1999 London nail bombings along withRichard Reid in 2001 and thebombings andattempted bombings in London in July 2005. The formation of SO13 had begun a process which on 2 October 2006 culminated in Special Branch and SO13 merging to formCounter Terrorism Command (SO15).[8]
[note A]DCI -Detective Chief Inspector
[note B]DSU -Detective Superintendent
[note C]CDR -Commander
With the collapse of Parnell's political career in 1891 and the general, if temporary, demoralization of the Irish cause, the Special Branch's interests shifted to other revolutionary and anarchist groups, and the wordIrish dropped out of the name.