(Other meanings: a union flying squad is a subset of a labor union) A union flying squad is an unofficial group of autonomous workers (usually members of a single union) who carry out actions for the benefit of their labor struggle. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

The Flying Squad is a branch of London's Metropolitan Police force. It was formed in 1919 as the "Mobile Patrol Experiment", a branch of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), in response to a crime wave that followed the end of World War I. Its officers were originally nicknamed the "thief takers". It consists of police officers trained in high-speed driving, whose task is to detect and prevent armed robbery and similar crimes. The name reflects the fact that the officers operate across the boundaries of London's police divisions. In 1978 it was renamed the "Central Robbery Squad". Its most popular nicknames are "the Sweeney" (Cockney rhyming slang for "Sweeney Todd"/"Flying Squad") and "The Heavy Mob". Metropolitan Police redirects here. ... The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of all British Police forces to which plain clothes detectives belong. ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... 1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Cockney rhyming slang is a form of English slang which originated in the East End of London. ... Sweeney Todd is a fictional barber and serial killer appearing as a character in various English-language works starting in the mid-19th century. ...

The squad's work was dramatized in the 1970s British television series The Sweeney. This was the era in which the Sweeney's close ties with the criminal underworld, which had always been a necessary part of its strategy, were being exposed to public criticism. A number of scandals involving bribery and corruption were revealed by an internal investigation by the Dorset Constabulary in Operation Countryman, which led to the imprisonment of the squad's Chief Superintendent and twelve detectives, and many more resigned. This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... British television broadcasting has a range of different broadcasters, broadcasting multiple channels over a variety of distribution media. ... The Sweeney is a British television police drama focusing on two crime-fighting members of the Flying Squad, an elite branch of the British police force specialising in armed robbery and violent crime. ... Chief Superintendent (Ch Supt; colloquially Chief Super) is a senior rank in the British Police. ...

The squad now forms part of the Serious and Organised Crime Group of the Specialist Crime Directorate. The Specialist Crime Directorate is an elite unit within the London Metropolitan Police Service. ...