Green’s Dictionary of Slang

used in the UK and certain one-time Commonwealth countries to denote the Special Branch, that department of the national police force that deals with ‘subversion’.

1996		P. Temple Bad Debts (2012) [ebook] There was a lot of paranoia about the Branch. If you believed all the people who said the Branch were watching them [etc].
2001		Relatives for Justice (NI) 🌐 13 Dec. The ‘Branch’ had a direct hand in limiting the popular growth of political organisations like the PUP, linked to the UVF and the UDP, linked to the UDA.
2002		Boston Herald 6 Jan. 🌐 ‘The Branch would argue that you don’t make informants in gospel halls or Sunday schools. And that’s true,’ he said.
2002		Dawn.com (Pakistan) 27 June 🌐 The budget for the special branch is provided by the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council. In 1985, the branch was reorganized and given one SP, one DSP, [etc.].
2003		www.jamaicapolice.org.jm 🌐 The Branch, as it is widely come to be called, is a Division of the Jamaica Constabulary, and operates with tremendous autonomy.