Editing Flying Squad (section)

== Formation and history ==
The squad was originally formed on an experimental basis by [[Chief inspector#United Kingdom|Detective Chief Inspector]] [[Frederick Wensley]]. In October 1919, Wensley summoned 12 detectives to [[New Scotland Yard|Scotland Yard]] to form the squad. The group was initially named the Mobile Patrol Experiment and its original orders were to perform surveillance and gather intelligence on known robbers and [[Pickpocketing|pickpockets]], using a horse-drawn [[carriage]] with covert holes cut into the canvas.<ref name="methistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.met.police.uk/history/flying_squad.htm |title=History of the Metropolitan Police Service |publisher=[[Metropolitan Police Service]] |access-date=8 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417233856/http://www.met.police.uk/history/flying_squad.htm |archive-date=17 April 2009 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

In 1920, it was officially reorganised under the authority of then [[Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis|Commissioner]] [[Nevil Macready]]. Headed by [[Inspector#United Kingdom|Detective Inspector]] Walter Hambrook, the squad was composed of 12 detective officers, including Irish-born Jeremiah Lynch (1888–1953), who had earned a fearsome reputation for tracking wartime German spies and for building up the case against confidence trickster [[Horatio Bottomley]].<ref name="methistory" /> The Mobile Patrol Experiment was given authorisation to carry out duties anywhere in the [[Metropolitan Police District]], meaning that its officers did not have to observe [[Police division|Divisions]], giving rise to the name of the Flying Squad because the unit operated across London without adhering to divisional policing boundaries.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1016855.stm |title=Flying Squad: The Sweeney's changing face |work=[[BBC News]] |date=10 November 2000 |access-date=8 May 2009}}</ref>

[[File:Crossley 20-25 from Shuttleworth Collection.JPG|thumb|right|Crossley 20/25 Tender (1919)]]

An alternative explanation for the "Flying Squad" name is that the first vehicles used were refurbished [[Crossley Motors]] 20/25 type tenders<ref>[http://www.crossley-motors.org.uk/history/trucks.html Commercial Vehicles] by [[Crossley Motors]]</ref> previously used by the [[Royal Flying Corps]], which were supplied to the [[Metropolitan Police]] in 1920.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kirby |first1=Dick |title=The Guv'nors: Ten of Scotland Yard's Greatest Detectives |date=23 February 2011 |publisher=Casemate Publishers |isbn=978-1-84884-972-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K2XNDwAAQBAJ&dq=progressed+motor+vehicles+two+Crossley+Tenders&pg=PT33 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=guinness>{{cite book |editor-last=Harding |title=Guinness book of car facts and feats |year=1977 |publisher=Guinness Superlatives|location=London |isbn=0-900424-54-0}}</ref>

Throughout the 1920s, the squad was standardised and expanded, and the establishment was expanded to 40 officers, under the command of [[Chief inspector#United Kingdom|Detective Chief Inspector]] Fred "Nutty" Sharpe until his retirement in July 1937. In 1948, the squad was given the designation of C.O.(C.8) for Commissioner's Office Crime 8 and was augmented. By 1956 it made one thousand arrests per year for the first time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.met.police.uk/history/timeline1950-1969.htm|title=Metropolitan Police History – timeline 1950–69|access-date=9 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727184416/http://www.met.police.uk/history/timeline1950-1969.htm|archive-date=27 July 2010|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

From 1978 to 1981 the name was changed to the Central Robbery Squad, but still known as the Flying Squad. It is often referred to by the nicknames the "Heavy Mob" or "the Sweeney" ([[rhyming slang]] for Flying Squad, from [[Sweeney Todd]]).<ref name="methistory" />

This was the era in which the squad's close ties with the criminal fraternity, which had always been a necessary part of its strategy, were being exposed to public criticism. A number of scandals involving bribery and [[police corruption|corruption]] were revealed, and on 7 July 1977, the squad's commander, [[Chief superintendent|Detective Chief Superintendent]] [[Kenneth Drury]], was convicted on five counts of corruption and imprisoned for eight years.<ref>{{cite news |title=Cheers to you, Ludovic Kennedy: Simon Heffer on a genial study of the late broadcaster's work to expose police corruption and miscarriages of justice|work=[[Daily Telegraph]]|location=London|date=25 February 2017|page=28}}</ref> Twelve other officers were also convicted and many more resigned. These and other scandals led to a massive internal investigation by the [[Dorset Police|Dorset Constabulary]] into the [[Metropolitan Police Service]] and the [[City of London Police]], codenamed [[Operation Countryman]].<ref>Andrew Walker. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3721695.stm The Sweeney's proud history], [[BBC]], 17 May 2004</ref>