The Chairman of the Defence Police Federation has praised his officers’ professionalism and commitment on the force’s 50th birthday.
The Ministry of Defence Police was established on 30 September 1971 and the Federation is this week celebrating the force’s achievements.
Eamon Keating said: “We have immense pride in all of our officers and the role which we carry out nationally in the protection of the department that we represent and the assets that we protect on behalf of the British public.”
Eamon, who has been at the helm of the Federation since 2003, said: “Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Ministry of Defence Police and 50 years of the Federation representing those officers who work within that force.
“We are immensely proud to be part of this organisation and, having served over 30 years with the force, when I look back over my time in the organisation I can see a significant change in what we do now compared to where we were three decades ago.”
The force was formed when the Army Department Constabulary, the Air Force Department Constabulary and the Admiral Constabulary amalgamated, and it has a “long and distinguished history”, Eamon said.
He added: “We have always been a professional organisation but if you were to stand a Ministry of Defence Police firearms officer from today next to one from 1989, for example, the comparison is almost impossible to draw.
“When you look at policing in general, the advancements in training, equipment and the way in which we present ourselves has changed immeasurably.
“But the Ministry of Defence Police has found its path through all of that so that it stands today as one of the primary firearms responses to Britain in the policing world.”
