History
Established in 1932 as 8 Area Clubs and Vice Unit, the OCU later became better known as the ‘Clubs Office’ and was based at West End Central Police Station.
Historically, the unit dealt primarily with prostitution, later introducing nightclubs, gaming and casinos. During the 60’s and with improved technology its focus has moved onto criminal activity, including drugs, criminal control of clubs and brothels and the obscene publications industry.
The base in Vine Street was requisitioned to become the Aliens Registration office in August 1939, so the unit was temporarily closed. It reopened in October in a secret meeting in a public house in Leicester Square for officers to take instructions and collect their expenses. In 1941, the Unit moved onto the 3rd floor of the new West End Central Police Station. This location, near Soho Division, was key as Soho has been the most famous red light district in the United Kingdom since the mid 19th century.
During the Second World War the vice scene in the west end of London thrived due mainly to the number of overseas soldiers based in England, many of whom were visitors to Soho. The proprietors of unlicensed clubs in Soho were breaching licensing laws but these also became a haven for prostitution and organised crime. The Clubs officers performed covert operations to tackle these problems.
Various legislation has affected the work and direction of the unit over the years, when the Street Offences Act came into force in 1959 the majority of prostitutes left the street, practically overnight, for fear of imprisonment and the fine for living off immoral earnings which increased.
The Obscene Publications Act 1964 brought extra responsibilities when the unit were given the task of enforcing the act. As a result, obscenity became a new part of their terms of reference.
The unit reached its lowest ebb in the early 1970s when chronic allegations of corruption came to a head with the detailed exposure in 1972 of systematic payments by pornographer James Humphreys to seventeen policemen, including DCI George Fenwick, head of the obscene publications squad; his direct superior DCS Bill Moody; Cmdr Wallace Virgo, head of the Serious Crime Squad, in overall charge of the unit; and Cmdr Kenneth Drury, head of the Flying Squad. As the ensuing corruption investigations widened, the obscene publications squad was replaced in its entirety with a new group of officers drawn from the uniformed branch, and in all over 20 detectives were dismissed or required to resign. When the cases ultimately came to trial in 1977 the presiding judge Mr Justice Mars-Jones summarised those involved as having engaged in "corruption on a scale which beggars description".
New challenges have arisen from the introduction of the Licensing Act 2003 (with the potential for 24 hour drinking) and the Gambling Act 2005 (with significant deregulation of gaming). With new legislation expected that covers the possession of "extreme obscenity" the work of the Clubs and Vice unit continues apace.
Read more about this topic: Metropolitan Police Clubs & Vice Unit
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