Metropolitan Police Service

The Metropolitan Police Service (abbreviated to MPS and widely known informally as "the Met") is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police. The Met also has significant national responsibilities such as co-ordinating and leading on counter-terrorism matters and protection of the British Royal Family and senior figures of Her Majesty's Government. The makes the Metropolitan Police is the largest police force in the United Kingdom by a significant margin, and one of the biggest in the world.

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, commonly known simply as the Commissioner, is the overall operational leader of the force, responsible and accountable to the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime. The post of Commissioner was first held jointly by Sir Charles Rowan and Sir Richard Mayne. The Commissioner's subordinate is the Deputy Commissioner.

A number of informal names and abbreviations exists for the Metropolitan Police Service, the most common being the Met. In colloquial London (or Cockney slang), it is sometimes referred to as the "Old Bill". In statutes it is referred to in the lower case as the "metropolitan police force" or the "metropolitan police", without the appendage "service". The Met is also referred to by the metonym Scotland Yard after the location of its original headquarters in a road called Great Scotland Yard in Whitehall. The Met's current headquarters is New Scotland Yard, in Victoria.