fayjo56 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 What is the law on having a vehicle marked as Military Police? Should markings be obscured on the publc highway as with a preserved police car? I am thinking of marking my M38 as an MP vehicle but having to remove or cover signage seems a bit of a pain, especially as MP jeeps of that era seem to have 'Military Police ' painted on the sides as well as the front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fayjo56 Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 Thought I'd bump this up in case anyone missed it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Magnetic lettering? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean N Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 The Cold War Provost RMP re-enactors don't allow markings to be displayed... 1. Conversant with UK legislation, all vehicles owned and/or operated by Cold War Provost members, whilst on Public Roads, marked as "Military Police", shall have ALL such markings securely and completely covered or where possible removed (see 80 PRO s2 SOP3 below); this includes all blue-light beacons, and "MILITARY POLICE" markings. Where a vehicle owner is concerned over the legislation, it is highly advisable to consult local civilian Police Constabularies to gain advice and guidance. 2. If neccessary, all "Military Police" markings and blue lights may have to be removed prior to accessing public roads, refitting such markings and lights once at the event in question, and removing them again prior to leaving said event. ...though they only give one reference in support of this, and that only refers to the lighting regulations re. blue lights. Wouldn't the MoD be able to tell you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ives Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 The Cold War Provost RMP re-enactors don't allow markings to be displayed... 1. Conversant with UK legislation, all vehicles owned and/or operated by Cold War Provost members, whilst on Public Roads, marked as "Military Police", shall have ALL such markings securely and completely covered or where possible removed (see 80 PRO s2 SOP3 below); this includes all blue-light beacons, and "MILITARY POLICE" markings. Where a vehicle owner is concerned over the legislation, it is highly advisable to consult local civilian Police Constabularies to gain advice and guidance. 2. If neccessary, all "Military Police" markings and blue lights may have to be removed prior to accessing public roads, refitting such markings and lights once at the event in question, and removing them again prior to leaving said event. ...though they only give one reference in support of this, and that only refers to the lighting regulations re. blue lights. Wouldn't the MoD be able to tell you? i know a lot of jeeps and ww2 vehicles have military police painted on them and you can tell they are not serving if your vehicle can be used to impersonate a police vehicle then you can be prosicuted as impersonating a officer on duty best advice is either magnetic plates or like i used to do on my landrover on public roads was to cover over the police section and blue light hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcap Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 (edited) Hi. Dave's given a brief reply above, but I thought a more in-depth reply might be of use, so apologies if this bores the wossit out of anyone... Oh, and while I'm at it, you looked at the previous version of the CWP website; the current site can be found at the link (click on the banner) in my sig strip Anyhow, while we use slightly more modern wagons (Land Rovers), the law of the land covers everything, not just modern kit, so applies to WW2-like Willis Jeeps as well; the guidance in our rules book is via both Primary and secondary legislation; please bear with me, as this gets a leeeetle involved... The list of primary and secondary legislation on blue lights is as follows: The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 (1 November 1989): Index - Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV The Road Vehicles Lighting (Amendment) Regulations 2005 (21 October 2005) The Road Vehicles Lighting (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2005 (12 December 2005) The Road Vehicles Lighting and Goods Vehicles (Plating and Testing) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (4 January 2010) The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use)(Amendment)(No.4) Regulations 2009 (4 January 2010) The Road Traffic Exemptions (Special Forces) (Variation and Amendment) Regulations 2011 (15 April 2011) The Road Safety Act 2006, Section 19 Fitting and use of sirens, two-tones, etc., is covered by s.37 (Audible warning instruments) of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, which states: (4) Subject to paragraphs (5), (6) and (7) no motor vehicle shall be fitted with a bell, gong, siren or two-tone horn. (5) The provisions of paragraph (4) shall not apply to motor vehicles— (a)used for fire brigade, ambulance or police purposes; (b)owned by a body formed primarily for the purposes of fire salvage and used for those or similar purposes; ©owned by the Forestry Commission or by local authorities and used from time to time for the purposes of fighting fires; (d)owned by the Secretary of State for Defence and used for the purposes of the disposal of bombs or explosives; (e)used for the purposes of the Blood Transfusion Service provided under the National Health Service Act 1977 or under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947; (f)used by Her Majesty's Coastguard or the Coastguard Auxiliary Service to aid persons in danger or vessels in distress on or near the coast; (g)owned by the National Coal Board and used for the purposes of rescue operations at mines; (h)owned by the Secretary of State for Defence and used by the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service for the purposes of rescue operations in connection with crashed aircraft or any other emergencies; or (i)owned by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and used for the purposes of launching lifeboats. As regards the use of the word "Police" on vehicles, while Service Police (e.g. Military Police) are not civilian Home Office-accredited forces within the meaning of the applicable laws, the complication is that the word "Police" is used in the title, thus it could be argued that the Police Act 1996 could be applied, specifically s.90(3)&(4), PA 1996; 90 Impersonation, etc. Any person who with intent to deceive impersonates a member of a police force or special constable, or makes any statement or does any act calculated falsely to suggest that he is such a member or constable, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both. Any person who, not being a constable, wears any article of police uniform in circumstances where it gives him an appearance so nearly resembling that of a member of a police force as to be calculated to deceive shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale. Any person who, not being a member of a police force or special constable, has in his possession any article of police uniform shall, unless he proves that he obtained possession of that article lawfully and has possession of it for a lawful purpose, be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale. In this section - (a)“article of police uniform” means any article of uniform or any distinctive badge or mark or document of identification usually issued to members of police forces or special constables, or anything having the appearance of such an article, badge, mark or document, (aa)“member of a police force” includes a member of the British Transport Police Force, and (b)“special constable” means a special constable appointed for a police area. Now, the Armed Forces Act 2006 makes mention of Service Police, but fails to give any real definition of what a Service Policeman actually is, so we fall back on the good old s.74(4) Army Act 1955-style definition of "a person who is lawfully exercising authority on behalf of a provost officer" (s.67 AFA 2006). However, this still does not give any clear prohibition of using a Military Police sign on a vehicle when not in military ownership, so again, we have to fall back on the law contained within s.90(3)&(4), PA 1996, and add a healthy dose of Common Sense . The upshot is that we do not display blue lights or anything with the word "Police" in it when not on show or display site land, and most definitely will NOT have them fitted on public roads, the thinking being a combination of "better safe than sorry" and "think of the adverse headlines in the tabloid press if we screw up". I do recognise that this seems a bit like a lecture on the topic, but I had to refresh myself on the topic and become rather familiar with it all when we started up CWP, so hope the research we had to do will be of benefit to you too Hope the above helps! Edited June 12, 2014 by Redcap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fayjo56 Posted June 12, 2014 Author Share Posted June 12, 2014 May thank gents for your time and advice. Removable signs it is then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcap Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 I think that's probably the best course of action; glad we were all able to help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 May thank gents for your time and advice. Removable signs it is then. Or paint it as originally done and put green painted magnetic signs over them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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