SO19 (or the Force Firearms Unit) is a department of the London Metropolitan Police which provides firearms-related support to the generally unarmed force. It could be considered London's equivalent to the SWAT units in the United States. SO19 are sometimes called the "Blue Berets", since they used to wear them, although now they are more likely to wear baseball caps.
The Firearms Wing was established in December 1966 as part of the Civil Defence and Communications Branch (D6, later D11) following the murder of three officers in the Massacre of Braybrook Street. It originally consisted of ten officers who were trained by British Army instructors and then themselves trained Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs) throughout the force.
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