15 Jan 2018

The Chairman is today issuing a ‘minded to’ note (PDF, 724KB) in respect of eight former Demonstration Squad officers.

The Chairman is minded to grant anonymity in respect of the real names of HN13; HN296; HN304; HN339; HN340; HN354; HN356/124. These seven officers are not applying for restriction orders in respect of their cover names; which means that their cover names will be published in due course.

The real names of HN61 and HN819 will be published, they were back office staff/managers who did not have cover names.

The Chairman is minded to grant a restriction order for the real and cover name of HN109.

Two more officers HN9 and HN66 have been allowed more time to provide the Chairman with information.

Today’s ‘Minded to’ note is accompanied by an explanatory note from Inquiry counsel (PDF, 3.3MB) which details the current status of all 86 applications for restriction orders received by the Inquiry by the end of November 2017. The ‘Minded to’ note is not accompanied by the applications, the evidence or any directions setting next steps at this time. Decisions on the Inquiry’s approach to publishing supporting information will be made following consideration of responses to the 04 December 2017 consultation on publication of documents (PDF, 331KB) (which closed on 11 January 2018). Directions will then follow.

Background

The purpose of the Undercover Policing Inquiry is to investigate and report on undercover police operations conducted by English and Welsh police forces in England and Wales since 1968. The Inquiry will examine the contribution undercover policing has made to tackling crime, how it was and is supervised and regulated, and its effect on individuals involved – both police officers and others who came into contact with them.

The work of the Inquiry ranges across the full scope of undercover policing work and will look at the work of the Special Demonstration Squad, the National Public Order Intelligence Unit and police forces in England and Wales. The Inquiry will also examine whether people may have been wrongly convicted in cases involving undercover police officers, and refer any such cases to a separate panel for consideration. The work of the Inquiry will fall into three modules:

  1. Module one will look at what happened in the deployment of undercover officers in the past, their conduct, and the impact of their activities on themselves and others.
  2. Module two will look at the management and oversight of undercover officers, including their selection, training, supervision and care after the end of an undercover deployment. This section will also look at the law and other rules covering undercover policing.
  3. Module three will make recommendations about how undercover policing should be conducted in future

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

  1. The current process for determining anonymity applications (PDF, 139KB)
  2. Further detail on applications made by the Special Demonstration Squad and the National Public Order Intelligence Unit
  3. The Undercover Policing Inquiry is constituted under the Inquiries Act 2005 (PDF, 207KB)
  4. The Inquiry’s terms of reference were announced by the Home Secretary on 16 July 2015.
  5. The Inquiry’s Frequently Asked Questions (PDF, 96KB) document provides more information on the Inquiry more generally, as do published update notes.
  6. The Inquiry’s website is www.ucpi.org.uk and the Inquiry can be found on Twitter @ucpinquiry

For further information please contact the Inquiry’s press officer, Jo Coles:

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 07827 818 460