Scotland Yard's Flying Squad: 100 Years of Crime Fighting

by Dick Kirby

A history of the famed London police unit, by a former member and author who “knows how to bring his coppers to life on each page” (Joseph Wambaugh, New York Times–bestselling author of The Onion Field).   Since 1919, Scotland Yard’s Flying Squad has been in the forefront of the war against crime. From patrolling London’s streets in horse-drawn wagons, it has progressed to the use of the most sophisticated surveillance and crime-fighting equipment. The Squad targeted protection gangs who infested British racecourses and greyhound tracks, and later the highly effective Ghost Squad was formed to tackle black-marketeering in the aftermath of the Second World War.   As crime soared in the 1950s and ’60s the Flying Squad, or C8 Department as it was now known, became involved in the most serious cases nationwide—The Great Train Robbery, the Brink’s-Mat robbery, The Millennium Dome and Hatton Garden heists. Today the ruthless drug and people trafficking gangs that seek rich pickings in London and elsewhere are in their sights.   Despite many high-profile successes, allegations of corruption have haunted the Flying Squad, and after the conviction of officers in 2001 there was a very real possibility of disbandment. Yet this most famous of police units survived—and today continues to fight and be feared by the hardest of criminals. This book draws on firsthand accounts to tell the Flying Squad’s thrilling story, and includes a foreword by John O’Connor, a former commander.   “A book that true crime aficionados will want to read.” —Washington Times

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime

400 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 8, 2021

Reviews

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dick Kirby is a retired Metropolitan police detective who spent a large part of his service with the Serious Crime Squad and the Flying Squad. He joined the police in 1967 and while he writes true crime prolifically, much of his writing focuses on historical crime, the period from the forties to the seventies. There’s nothing wrong with that, but generally, my interests are more contemporary.

This book traces the history of the flying squad from its formation just after the first world war to the present day. Due to my interests, it was the latter half of the title that I was more interested in, the late 1970s/early 1980’s onwards.

This section of the book is well told and in particular, I liked the detail on some lesser told tales, such as the armed operation to bring down the Arif brothers. At one time the Arifs were seen as contenders to the crown vacated by the Kray and Richardson gangs, and it was feared they would dominate London. They had a taste for armed robbery however and while other leading gangsters were moving into drugs importation, they continued robbing security vans. It was thanks to this that the Flying Squad was able to bring them to book.

While the Arif operation only occupies a few pages, better-known stories such as the Brinks Mat investigation, the Millennium Dome diamond heist and Hatton garden, as well as other lesser-known stories, proliferate. The more famous operations are discussed in greater detail in books dedicated to those events, but Kirby’s title doesn’t aim to do this and instead offers a brief account of how the flying squad contributed to the investigation.

I did read the earlier chapters, but as mentioned it was the latter half of the book which really held my interest and the author does a good job of collating and summarising the events detailed. All in all, this was an informative read.

[James W. Workman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Very British Memoir

An interesting history of the Scotland Yard Flying Squad. Filled with more detail that many won’ appreciate. Domes wandering and wordy. Not in historical sequence, but an interesting telling of the operations of the special detective squad and the English courts

[Liam Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

If your looking for a unbiased history of the Flying Squad this is not the book for you. If you’re looking for a ringside to some of the biggest cases in the Flying Squads history then this is great. Author clearly loved his time in the Police, and loved writing this book, albeit it’s very one sided, but thrilling none the less

[FellowBibliophile KvK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb overview of the operations of the London Metropolitan Police's elite anti-robbery unit, the Flying Squad, aka the Sweeney, depicted on TV by the John Thaw/Dennis Waterman series of the same name.

The French National Police today have their own Sweeney, the BRI (Brigades de Recherche et d'Intervention.) It is such a shame that North American police forces do not have such a unit.