Stephen Smith, veteran of over a thousand armed operations during his twenty-two years with the Metropolitan Police Specialist Firearms Command was born in south London in 1960. He joined the Met at nineteen and after twelve years in uniform passed selection for PT17, the Met's firearms unit, where he was selected to work on the Specialist Firearms Teams, experiencing first-hand the explosive and controversial world of police firearms operations. Between operational postings Stephen has taught most aspects of armed policing. He retired from the Met in 2013 after thirty-three years' service.
