Special Branch
4
6.6
- noun
- UK
:
Special Branch
- Before working undercover, she spent five years in the Special Branch, focusing on terrorism-related cases.
- the Special Branch police
- Special Branch officer
So the Special Branch of the police, the elite section that connects into royalty protection knew about Savile.
- So the Special Branch of the police, the elite section that connects into royalty protection knew about Savile.
- If you're going to do a job, probably come from the Special Branch Irish, they'd have whatever information they have pass it in.
Examples
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LONDON -- It had been several years since the author Salman Rushdie was shadowed by London's Special Branch officers, but on Friday night they were once again by his side.
Blog text (13) -
I was supposed to grab him at Special Branch, but he got away.
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The special branch of police had reported about the activities going on in that secret cell.
Academic text (2018) -
This research resulted in his being put under observation by the Special Branch.
Blog text (23) -
You've been talking with the Special Branch, Jimmy.
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So the Special Branch of the police, the elite section that connects into royalty protection knew about Savile.
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And in the spring of 2009, I visited a youth center supported by the Muslim Contact Unit, part of the Special Branch of the Metropolitan Police in London, which works with leaders of the Muslim community there, including Islamists, to isolate and counter supporters of terrorist violence.
Academic text (2010) -
The Special Branch is responsible for investigating political crimes and threats to national security.
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After the incident, the Special Branch conducted a thorough investigation into potential security breaches.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituents 'special' (particular, not ordinary) and 'branch' (a subdivision) make it clear that this is a specific subdivision of an organization, so learners can infer it is a specialised unit. However, the exact remit — national security, political crimes, counter‑espionage — is institutional and conventional (and particularly British), so that specific meaning is not fully predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
Special Branch takes its name from police history: it was a small part of the force called a branch, set up for special tasks like watching spies and protecting 'national security'. That's why Special Branch now means the police unit that deals with spies, terrorism and political crimes.