The Metropolitan Police Specialist Training Centre is a specialist training centre for the Metropolitan Police (MPS) in Gravesend, Kent.[1] [2] It provides both Public Disorder and Specialist Firearms training to officers drawn from the MPS, British Transport Police and City of London Police.
The centre was purpose-built for the Metropolitan Police and opened in 2003.[1] [2]
The site covers 9,250 square metres and was rebuilt by Equion. It was a former military firing range and also the National Civilian Seacraft training centre before the centre relocated to the local college campus.[1]
It features mock roads, shops, a pub, a bank, a nightclub, a football stadium, train and underground stations with full-size carriages and a full-size section of an aircraft.[1] There are also classrooms and lecture theatres, accommodation for more than 300 people, stables for 10 police horses and an abseil tower.[1]
The site was photographed by James Rawlings in 2014 when he was given access to the site.[2] [3] [4] It took several months of negotiations with authorities for Rawlings to get permission to photograph the site and restrictions included not showing the faces of officers who took part in training.[4]
The site has also appeared on Television in the former police procedural drama "The Bill".