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Additional Reference and Historical Documents

Public Order Public Safety — Authorised Professional Practice

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Summary

This page provides additional information and historical context related to public order public safety (POPS) for policing in the UK. It includes a variety of resources such as legislative documents, command considerations, and safety guidelines to inform and support officers in their operational planning and deployment. The content outlines key aspects of adapting to protests, managing crowds, and the legal framework that governs police actions in public order situations.

Key principles

  • 1Understanding historical context relating to public order and safety.
  • 2Utilizing legislative documents to inform policing practices.
  • 3Implementing community engagement and proper planning for events.

Defined terms

Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987
An order concerning the regulation of public order in Northern Ireland.
Public Order Act 1986
An Act that provides the police with powers to manage public order situations.
Licensing Act 2003
An Act that regulates the licensing of activities including the sale of alcohol.
Human Rights Act 1998
An Act that incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law.
Crime and Disorder Act 1998
An Act aimed at reducing crime and enhancing community safety.
Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014
An Act that addresses issues of anti-social behaviour and gives police new tools.
Command considerations table for gold, silver, bronze
A framework that provides guidance for the command structure in POPS incidents.

Full guidance

This page is from APP, the official source of professional practice for policing.

The following links provide additional information relating to public order public safety (POPS) and provide historic context relating to POPS.

The POPS Specialist Operational Support on the Knowledge Hub(opens an external website in the same tab) is a forum for all aspects of POPS policing (you will need to log in). This community is relevant to all officers from operational planners, Police Support Unit (PSU) Level 3 trained staff and individuals up to and including gold POPS commanders. Members of the police service are encouraged to use both the POPS APP and the POPS community on Knowledge Hub to access the most current information and advice.

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What is the reason for your answer?

Reproduced from the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice under the Open Government Licence v3.0, as captured on 2026-06-27. APP is amended over time — check the source link below for the current version. This is a reference, not operational authorisation.

APP is the authoritative source for UK policing practice and is updated over time. For the current, official version — including any operational detail not reproduced here — go direct.

Read the full APP guidance

Source: College of Policing — Authorised Professional Practice · Crown copyright, licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0. Summary fetched 2026-06-27.