Collar number

City of London

Until recently, collar numbers consisted of a number followed by a single letter to indicate the division (e.g. "PC 123A").

In 1914, the force was reorganised into four divisions, each named after its police station:

Divisional letter	Division
A	Moor Lane
B	Snow Hill
C	Bishopsgate
D	Cloak Lane

Moor Lane Police Station was destroyed in the Blitz in 1940, and A Division was abolished and distributed amongst the three remaining divisions. Cloak Lane Police Station was closed down in 1946, and D Division was transferred to the new Wood Street Police Station. The divisions after 1946 therefore stood at:

Divisional letter	Division
B	Snow Hill
C	Bishopsgate
D	Wood Street

In 1984, the force was reduced to two territorial divisions, based at Snow Hill Police Station and Bishopsgate Police Station (still B and C Divisions), together with support divisions, and the divisions subsequently stood at:

Divisional letter	Division
A	Anti-Terrorism & Public Order
B	Snow Hill
C	Bishopsgate
D	Specialist Crime Operations
E	Professional Development Unit
F	Economic Crime Department

In February 2009, all the divisions were abolished and the force was divided into directorates (with all patrol officers falling within the new Territorial Policing Directorate, subsequently incorporating certain specialist units and becoming the Uniformed Policing Directorate). All officers' collar numbers were then suffixed by the letters "CP" rather than a divisional letter.

Collar numbers are allocated as follows:

Range	Officers
1–149	Sergeants
150–999	Constables
1000–1099	Special Sergeants
1100–1299	Special Constables
2000–2099	PCSOs

Metropolitan Police

A number, followed by one or two letters indicating the station/sector, 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 (except in larger boroughs like Southwark where some sergeants are allocated three digit numbers), a three digit number denotes a Constable, a four digit number beginning with 5 denotes an officer of the Metropolitan Special Constabulary, unless they're attached to a 'Roads & Transport Policing Command' (RTPC) team, in which case the number will begin with an 8 and a four digit number beginning with 7 denotes a PCSO again unless they are attached to RTPC and they will start with a 6. Confusingly, MPS epaulettes display the letters over the digits, i.e. 81FH (a Sergeant based at Hammersmith) would show FH over 81 on their 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 PC 123 kg Smith).

An exception to the above is the City of Westminster borough. Westminster has over 1,500 officers therefore a three digit number system is too small. Until late 2009 constables and sergeants had four digit shoulder numbers beginning 1, 2, 3 or 4 (with the leading number signifying which part of the borough you were attached to - 1 Westminster North, 2 Westminster Central, 3 Westminster South or 4 Westminster HQ). With the amalgamation of Westminster Central and South in late 2009 the decision was taken to amalgamate all the shoulder numbers into one numbering system. All new officers joining the borough will be given the first available number and cross division moves will no longer result in the need for a new shoulder number.

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.

All Metropolitan Police officers in uniform below the rank of Inspector are required to have their collar numbers on display at all times.^[2] It is increasingly common for higher ranks to display their warrant numbers on their epaulettes in addition to their rank.

Code	Specialist unit
CC	Central Communications Command (CO10)
CJ	Met Detention (Custody)
CO	Specialist Crime & Operations (includes Specialist Firearms Command, Mounted Branch, Air Support Unit etc.)
FRT	Forensic Retrieval Team
ID	Heathrow Airport & London City Airport (now Aviation Security (SO18))
R	Royalty Protection Group (SO14)
RO	Royal Parks
MxC	Specialist Crime Directorate
SO	Specialist Operations
P	Units based at Parliament (Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection)
D	Units supporting diplomats and senior ministers (Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection)
V	Vehicle Enforcement Team
L	Learning Directorate (training)
T	Roads and Transport Policing Command - (Merger of ST (Safer Transport) and TD (Traffic)
U	Territorial Support Group (CO20)

Borough/BCU	Sectors
EA East Area	Merger of KG (KB Barking, KG Dagenham, KK Marks Gate, KW Freshwharf), JI (JB Barkingside, JI Ilford, JN Wanstead, JF Woodford) and KD (KL Collier Row, KA Harold Hill, KC Hornchurch, KM Rainham, KD Romford, KU Upminster, KH Harold Hill Patrol Base)
WA West Area	Merger of TX (TB Brentford, TC Chiswick, TF Feltham, TX Hounslow), XH (XF Harefield, XY Hayes, XH Hillingdon, XN Northwood, XR Ruislip, XE West Drayton) And XB (XA Acton, XD Ealing, XS Southall)
SX Barnet	SA Barnet, SC Colindale, SF Finchley, SG Golders Green, ST Whetstone
RY Bexley	RB Belvedere, RY Bexleyheath, RS Sidcup
QK Brent	QC Chalkhill, QH Harlesden, QK Kilburn, QD Wembley, QL Willesden Green, QY Kingsbury
PY Bromley	PB Beckenham, PH Biggin Hill, PC Chislehurst, PY Bromley, PN Orpington, PG Penge, PW West Wickham
CN Central North	Merger of EK (EO Holborn, EK Kentish Town, EW West Hampstead) and NI (NH Holloway, NI Islington)
ZD Croydon	ZD Croydon, ZN South Norwood, ZY Norbury, ZK Kenley, ZA Addington, ZC Custody
YE Enfield	YE Edmonton, YF Enfield North Cluster, YS Southgate West Cluster, YP Edmonton South Cluster (Formerly Ponders end Cluster)
RG Greenwich	RM Eltham, RG Greenwich, RA Plumstead, RT Thamesmead, RK Westcombe Park, RW Woolwich
GD Hackney	GH Hackney, GD Shoreditch, GN Stoke Newington
FH Hammersmith & Fulham	FF Fulham, FH Hammersmith, FS Shepherds Bush
YR Haringey	YR Hornsey, YM Muswell Hill, YA St Ann's, YT Tottenham, YD Wood Green
QA Harrow	QE Edgware, QA Harrow, QP Pinner, QW Wealdstone, QS West Street
BS Kensington & Chelsea	BC Chelsea, BD Kensington, BH Notting Hill
VK Kingston upon Thames	VK Kingston, VN New Malden, VE/VS† Surbiton
LX Lambeth	LD Brixton, LC Cavendish, LN/LM† Clapham, LG Gipsy Hill, LK Kennington, LS Streatham
PL Lewisham	PK Brockley, PD Catford, PP Deptford, PL Lewisham, PS Sydenham
VW Merton	VM Mitcham, VR Morden, VW Wimbledon
KF Newham	KE East Ham, KF Forest Gate, KW Fresh Wharf, KN North Woolwich, KW/KO† Plaistow (CLOSED), KS Stratford
JI Redbridge	JB Barkingside, JI Ilford, JN Wanstead, JF Woodford
TW Richmond Upon Thames	TR Richmond, TT Teddington, TW Twickenham
MD Southwark	MC Camberwell, MM Peckham, MR Rotherhithe, MD Southwark, MS Walworth
ZT Sutton	ZT Sutton, ZW Wallington, ZR Worcester Park
HT Tower Hamlets	HW Bow, HT Bethnal Green / Whitechapel, HR Brick Lane, HI Isle of Dogs, HH Limehouse, HP Poplar
JC Waltham Forest	JC Chingford, JL Leyton (closed), JS Leytonstone (closed), JW Walthamstow (closed), JK Walthamstow Market, JP Leyton Custody Centre, JA Waltham Abbey (now in Essex)
WW Wandsworth	WA Battersea, WL Lavender Hill, WD Tooting, WW/WH Wandsworth (also includes the Putney Sector Office which replaced the previous Putney station which had the code WP †)[3]
CW Westminster	AD Belgravia, CX Charing Cross, DP Paddington, CD West End Central, DM Marylebone

† Some authoritative sources (e.g. Police and Constabulary Almanac) are self-contradictory and incomplete.

Not all of these stations are currently operational.

Further to this; letters on shoulders will denote borough or newly formed basic command units and not the police station an officer is based from. An example of this would be a PC working from East Ham Police Station in the borough of Newham; the PC would have KF (Newham) on their shoulder and not KE (East Ham station). Similarly in newly merged boroughs a PC working from Holloway Police Station would have CN (Central North BCU) on their shoulder.

PNC codes and collar numbers

When a police officer or a member of staff is in a collaborative (multi-constabulary) unit or department (such as the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Road Policing Unit), the PNC code, which is a force identification number, is added to the collar number to prevent confusion between officers; e.g., 41-9999 would indicate a Hertfordshire officer. These numbers are only used in paperwork and are not seen on the officer's epaulettes.