Collar number

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A collar number, also known as a shoulder number, Force Identification Number (FIN) or occasionally as Force Number (although this can also refer to ID number of a force itself) identifies uniformed officers, Police Community Support Officers (PCSO), and some police staff in UK police forces. Although now displayed on epaulettes (i.e. on the shoulder), it is still commonly referred to as a collar number.

In most forces it is simply a one- to five-digit number, but in the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police a code (also known as a Division Call Sign) is added to indicate the officer's base area or unit:

[edit] City Of London

A number followed by a single letter to indicate the division.
Suffix code Meaning
A Operational Support (Dogs, Mounted, Traffic) (formerly Moor Lane)
B Snow Hill & Wood Street
C Bishopsgate
D CID (formerly Cloak Lane)
E Headquarters

[edit] Metropolitan Police Service

A number, followed by one or two letters indicating the station, borough, or unit. Current practice favours use of borough codes rather than station codes (with the borough code generally taken from one of the borough's stations - see below - which can cause confusion).

Divisional area codes are still used to identify the areas themselves, together with the police station and vehicles (if any) nominally covering them, but not officers. So for example QY88 would be a panda car notionally assigned to Kingsbury, though it would actually be based at QD (i.e. Wembley, the nearest operational police station) and be crewed by officers whose collar numbers all contain the letters 'QK' (since they are counted as Brent officers regardless of which station they may happen to be based at).

A one or two digit number denotes a Sergeant, a three digit number denotes a Constable, a four digit number beginning with 5 denotes a Special Constable and a four digit number beginning with 7 denotes a PCSO. Confusingly, MPS epaulettes display the letters over the digits, i.e. 81FH (a Sergeant based at Hammersmith) would show FH over 81 on his/her shoulder, which reads more like FH81 (the call sign of a panda car based there). Ranks above Sergeant do not have collar numbers - officers are identified by name (e.g. Inspector Smith, who may once have been just PC 123KG).

Specialist MPS units do not necessarily follow any of the above numbering rules, with both Constables and Sergeants having anything from one to four digits.

Code Specialist unit
CC Central Communications Command (CO10)
CO Central Operations (formerly Commissioner's Office)
D Diplomatic Protection Group
ID Heathrow Airport (now Aviation Security (CO18))
O Traffic Control (generally called 'Oscar' units within the MPS)
P Parliament (CO7)
R Royalty Protection Group
RO Royal Parks
SCD Specialist Crime Directorate
SO Specialist Operations
T Training Section
U Territorial Support Group (also known, confusingly, as 'Uniform' units)
UD Marine Support Unit
Territorial codes: boroughs and their sectors. Only borough code shown on uniform
KG Barking & Dagenham

KB Barking, KG Dagenham
SX Barnet

SX Colindale, SA Barnet, SG Golders Green
RY Bexley

RY Bexleyheath
QK Brent

QD Wembley, QK Kilburn, QH Harlesden, QL Willesden, QY Kingsbury
PY Bromley

PY Bromley, PG Penge, PN Orpington
EK Camden

ED Albany Street, EO Holborn, EK Kentish Town, EH Hampstead
CW City of Westminster

CW Westminster, AB Belgravia, CX Charing Cross, DM Marylebone, CD West End Central, DP Paddington
ZD Croydon

ZD Croydon, ZN South Norwood
XB Ealing

XA Acton, XB Acton, XD Ealing, XS Southall
YE Enfield

YE Edmonton, YF Enfield, YP Ponders End, YS Southgate, YW Winchmore Hill, YC Cheshunt (now in Hertfordshire Constabulary)
RG Greenwich

RG Plumstead, RG Greenwich
GD Hackney

GD Shoreditch, GN Stoke Newington
FH Hammersmith & Fulham

FH Hammersmith, FF Fulham
YR Haringey

YA St Anne's, YD Wood Green, YH Highgate, YM Muswell Hill, YR Hornsey, YT Tottenham
HA Harrow

HA Harrow
KD Havering

KD Havering
XH Hillingdon

XH Hillingdon
TX Hounslow

TX Hounslow
NI Islington

NI Islington, NH Holloway, NV Highbury Vale, NA Archway Sector Office
BS Kensington & Chelsea

BH Notting Hill, BC Chelsea, BD Kensington
VK Kingston-Upon-Thames

VK Kingston-Upon-Thames
LX Lambeth

LD Brixton, LS Streatham, LX Vauxhall
PL Lewisham

PD Catford, PL Lewisham
VW Merton

ZM Merton
KF Newham

KF Forest Gate, KO Plaistow
JI Redbridge

JB Barkingside, JI Ilford
TW Richmond Upon Thames

TW Twickenham
MD Southwark

MD Southwark, MM Peckham, MS Walworth
ZT Sutton

ZT Sutton, ZW Wallington
HT Tower Hamlets

HT Bethnal Green, HH Limehouse
JC Waltham Forest

JC Chingford, JL Leyton, JW Walthamstow, JA Waltham Abbey (now in Essex)
WW Wandsworth

WA Battersea, WW Wandsworth

[edit] References