51°26′30″N 0°24′15″E / 51.44163°N 0.40413°E
The Metropolitan Police Specialist Training Centre is a specialist training centre for the Metropolitan Police (MPS) in Gravesend, Kent.[1][2] It provides both Public Disorder and Specialist Firearms training to officers drawn from the MPS, British Transport Police and City of London Police.
The centre was purpose-built for the Metropolitan Police and opened in 2003.[1][2]
The site
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The site covers 9,250 square metres and was rebuilt by Equion. It was a former military firing range and also the National Civilian Seacraft training centre before the centre relocated to the local college campus.[1]
It features mock roads, shops, a pub, a bank, a nightclub, a football stadium, train and underground stations with full-size carriages and a full-size section of an aircraft.[1] There are also classrooms and lecture theatres, accommodation for more than 300 people, stables for 10 police horses and an abseil tower.[1]
In media
editThe site was photographed by James Rawlings in 2014 when he was given access to the site.[2][3][4] It took several months of negotiations with authorities for Rawlings to get permission to photograph the site and restrictions included not showing the faces of officers who took part in training.[4]
The site has also appeared on Television in the former police procedural drama "The Bill".[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "New £50m police training centre opens". BBC News. 15 April 2003. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- ^ a b c Bierend, Doug (7 May 2014). "The Fake City Streets Where Cops Learn Riot Control". Wired. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- ^ Ruck, Joanna (24 June 2014). "Police riot training in fake Kent town - in pictures". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- ^ a b Rawlings, James (17 April 2014). "The Fake Kent Town Where Cops Train for Riots". Vice. Retrieved 4 July 2020.