Mounted Unit Commander

Mounted Unit Commanders are deployed to spontaneous or pre-planned public order/public safety events to enable an effective policing response and act, where needed, in a mutual aid capacity.

• Command and control mounted resources at operations and events to deploy resources appropriately for the conditions.
• Manage officers within the mounted resource under the gold commander’s strategy, the silver commander’s tactical plan and their bronze commander’s deployment plan.
• Lead, deploy and control a mounted unit as directed by their geographical or functional bronze commander and coordinate with other Police Support Unit (PSU) commanders and/or specialist resources in support of wider strategic, tactical and deployment plans.
• Prepare for pre-planned deployments by undertaking reconnaissance to determine surface suitability for the mounted unit and to identify other geographical and environmental constraints on the unit’s activity.
• Ensure that the mounted unit is sufficiently resourced, equipped, presented and able to carry out the tasks allocated and report any deficiencies to the respective bronze commander.
• Engage in and contribute to the debriefing process, ensuring that the mounted unit are fully debriefed and provided post-operational support, to ensure information is effectively transmitted and to contribute to organisational learning.

Prior education and experience:

• Mounted Standard Equitation Course (SEC)
• National Mounted Commanders Course
• Experience in working within gold commander’s strategy, silver commander’s tactical plan and bronze commander’s deployment plan

Skills:

• Conversant with and able to apply tactics contained within the National framework for mounted public order policing.
• Able to liaise and communicate with all ranks involved in public order to ensure best service delivery and working in partnership.
• Strong working knowledge of the National Decision Model (NDM) and utilises this throughout the intelligence, briefing and deployment stages of public order policing.
• Able to identify risk early, and utilise mounted tactics to minimise or mitigate the risk.
• Able to lead a team during public order events, ensuring objectives are in line with force values, behaviours and strategic priorities.
• Coordination of briefing and debriefing to all mounted assets, able to constantly improve processes and decision making through two-way feedback and continual improvement techniques.
• Able to put mounted assets to best use in any given public order situation.

• Undertake an annual mounted public order refresher training package.
• Perform the role of a mounted commander at a public safety or public order event, at least once per annum.
• Keep up to date with public order trends, learning and legislation changes through the public order national learning and development group and other forums.
• Maintain knowledge of crowd dynamics and crowd psychology based on current guidance and best practice.
• Maintain an up to date understanding of College of Policing guidance, best practice and any local policy applicable to the operational police context.
• Maintain and update key knowledge, understanding and skills relating to legislation, policy and practice across all functional policing areas of operational policing.
• Maintain knowledge and understanding of new approaches identified by evidence based policing research and problem solving, test and synthesise these into working practice, championing innovation and changes to practice.
• Maintain a working knowledge and understanding of new and evolving crime threats and priorities and current best practice to tackle these in order to enable a pro-active and preventative approach.
• Complete all annual and mandatory training including for example, fitness tests, personal safety training, first aid, and protecting information.

Not Applicable

• Mounted Constable
• Mounted Sergeant
• Mounted Inspector
• NPoCC Mercury Profile – Mounted Officer – Public Order 53 v1.
• NPPOTC Module G3 – Annex 1 Mounted unit commander role profile