FIVE FORCES. ONE TEAM
Every member of EMSOU serves as one unit to provide the highest quality policing support to the five forces of the East Midlands.
OUR STORY
We are the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU), utilising specialist skills and capabilities to tackle the most serious, organised and violent crime, including terrorism.
Established in 2001, our unit is a collaboration of specially trained officers and staff from the police forces of Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands.
Our mission is simple:
We are five forces, one team, innovating together to protect East Midlands communities from harm.
We identify, disrupt and prosecute those individuals or groups causing the most harm to our communities.
By working with other agencies we also seek to prepare you in the event of a major incident, equip you with the knowledge to protect against crime and prevent people from being drawn into crime.
The Regional
Organised Crime
Unit (ROCU)
![March 12_ 2014-IV4A7887[1360].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7d52af_b8d77b05df9b4277af44772451ac8199~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_198,h_91,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_3,enc_auto/March%2012_%202014-IV4A7887%5B1360%5D.jpg)
EMSOU is one of nine ROCUs within the UK and works closely with the National Crime Agency and other partners to provide our five East Midlands forces with a number of specialist capabilities.
Check out the national ROCU network website for details of the range of capabilities we offer in Intelligence, Operations and Technical Services.
Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands
(CTP EM)
Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands (CTPEM) is a Counter Terrorism Intelligence Unit with assets across the region's five forces to create a cohesive unit dedicated to tackling the threat of terrorism in the East Midlands.
Our team, working closely with partners, gathers intelligence and conducts investigations into individuals or groups creating a risk of terrorism, this includes at our sea and air borders.
We work agencies, such as social care and education, and community organisations in a bid to prevent vulnerable people from being drawn into terrorism and extremism. Visit the Act Early website for more details around the safeguarding work we undertake, and the signs to spot.
We also manage those individuals in our region who have been convicted of terrorism offences, or who pose a terrorist threat, both in prison and on their release back into the community.
Additionally, the unit plays a role in the protection of regional sites, events and prominent individuals, as well as those visiting the area, which may be the potential subject of terrorist or other types of attack.
We operate as part of a wider national Counter Terrorism Policing network.
Regional Review
This unit conducts reviews of major inquiries, critical incidents and other identified investigations and themes, such as serious sexual offences and high-risk missing people.
The team can assist Senior Investigating Officers on live cases, as well as identify areas for follow-up, good practise and learning in historical ‘cold’ cases. They also work closely with forensic experts as technology evolves in revisiting samples from undetected cases.
Major Crime
EMSOU Major Crime investigates suspicious deaths, complex cases and other serious crimes taking place across the region’s five force areas.
The unit sees officers and staff based within each force area working on inquiries both on their ‘patch’ and across force boundaries to provide a regional response.
The team works hard not only to bring justice for the victims of terrible violence and their families, but also to support them along the way. We have a cadre of trained Family Liaison Officers who provide support throughout inquiries and beyond and we act as the coordination point for the national Casualty Bureau, which helps manage the large public response around those potentially caught up in major incidents.
Forensic Services
Within the East Midlands, all forensic work required by each of the five forces is managed by EMSOU-Forensic Services. Our work is completed in partnership with Cellmark Forensic Services.
Crime Scene Investigation
EMSOU-FS coordinates all of the Crime Scene Investigators (CSIs), with each force having its own dedicated team.
CSIs attend scenes of crime, record and recover evidence and submit it to the relevant units for processing. They also work closely with investigation teams to produce forensic strategies.
Fingerprints
The Regional Fingerprint Bureau attempts to identify finger, palm or plantar marks which have been recovered from scenes of crime, or from exhibits that have been chemically treated. These experts can also be required to attend mortuaries to capture the fingerprints of those who have died.
DNA
In 2017, we were the first policing collaboration in the country to join forces with the private sector to deliver a DNA service from the same building. Working alongside Cellmark Forensic Services, our highly-trained staff seek to identify criminals (and others) from DNA samples taken from crime scenes and objects, such as weapons, to deliver rapid results from our shared laboratory in the region.
Exhibit handling
This team advises on the best way to handle, move and store exhibits for forensic examination and analysis. The team also coordinates reports and statements of analysis carried out by external forensic service providers, and delivering the results to investigating officers.
Analytical services
If an exhibit needs chemical development in order to lift a fingerprint or footwear detail, our expert technicians can use specialist processes to do so. They can also attend scenes of crime to assess what type of specialist enhancement and recovery techniques need to be used, before bringing it to the laboratory.
Drugs
Our drugs technicians test suspected drugs and unknown substances in an attempt to identify and quantify them. They can also advise on drug-related incidents.