Case Studies

Undercover cops report

by Mark Rowe

Inconsistencies and shortcomings in policies, systems and training threaten the effectiveness of undercover officers, a report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) revealed today. HMIC stressed that this inspection was not an inquiry into past events but examines how well undercover policing is carried out now.

The Ellison Review published in March 2014 examined allegations of corruption into the investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence and whether the Metropolitan Police had evidence of corruption that it did not disclose to the public inquiry into Mr Lawrence’s death. And Operation Herne was set up by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to investigate the allegations made in the media of the conduct of undercover officers, including undercover officers having sexual relationships and children with members of the protest groups they were embedded in.

Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, former undercover Met officer Peter Francis said that the report was very critical; and was sceptical whether it would be acted on, recalling a previous HMIC report of February 2012. Peter Francis spoke also of the psychological damage to officers from such work: “I never managed to re-integrate myself in the police service afterwards.”

The report, ‘An inspection of undercover policing in England and Wales’, is a response to a commission from the Home Secretary Theresa May in June 2013, for HMIC to inspect the effectiveness of the arrangements in place in all police forces to carry out, manage and scrutinise undercover operations.

HM Inspector Stephen Otter, who led the inspection, said: “The public have a right to feel confident that this highly intrusive area of policing is being carried out in the most scrupulous way. Therefore, whilst we found that undercover officers were, in general, knowledgeable, professional and courageous, it was disappointing to find inconsistencies and shortcomings in the way undercover officers were supported by policies, systems and training across the country.

“Throughout our inspection, undercover officers were consistent in voicing their concerns about the ways in which forces required them to work differently from other forces and from what they understood from their training to be a nationally agreed way of working. This is clearly inefficient and, at worst, could lead to avoidable mistakes being made.

“We were concerned by a generally poor level of knowledge and lack of expertise of those senior leaders who authorise the use of undercover officers. Although authorising officers were generally able to explain to us the information that they had used to justify authorities, there was an unacceptable variation in the quality of the written authorisations – often with insufficient detail provided.

“We also found that police forces have been slow to adapt undercover tactics to tackle the fast growing online threat, with some forces without any undercover online capability at all. Chief constables and the College of Policing need to ensure that the shortcomings set out in this report are promptly addressed.”

For the report in full visit the HMIC website – http://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/publication/an-inspection-of-undercover-policing-in-england-and-wales/.

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