27 Feb 2019

The Inquiry has today launched a consultation seeking views on the List of Issues (PDF, 3.1MB) it intends to use to direct and focus its investigation into former managers and administrators of the Special Demonstration Squad.

Building on the Module one List of Issues (PDF, 82KB) – which focusses on the undercover officers and their deployments – this List covers a variety of topics including:

what policies and guidance were put in place for undercover officers
how and by whom the actions of undercover officers were authorised
what managers knew about the actions of undercover officers, including the relationships they formed and their involvement in criminal behaviour and the criminal justice system
what managers did with the information that undercover officers reported back to them
what attention was paid to the welfare of undercover officers, including at the time of their withdrawal from deployment

Module Two (a) will consider anyone in a management role up to and including the officer who commanded the Special Demonstration Squad.

Issues lists do not prevent the Inquiry from investigating any further areas of interest, provided that they fall within the Terms of Reference, but they do help guide and focus the investigations.

Written observations on this list are invited by 12 April 2019.

This latest draft Issues List marks the beginning of the next stage of the Inquiry’s investigations. It follows the publication last week of the final Issues lists (PDF, 693KB) for Module One of the investigations into the National Public Order Intelligence Unit and other police forces.

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 Inquiry’s investigations are broken down into modules. The descriptions of modules Two and Three have been amended to spell out more clearly the Inquiry’s investigative intentions.

One

Examination of the deployment of undercover officers in the past, their conduct, and the impact of their activities on themselves and others.

Two

Examination of the management and oversight of undercover officers, including their selection, training, supervision, care after the end of an undercover deployment and the legal and regulatory framework within which undercover policing is carried out. Module Two (a) will involve managers and administrators from within undercover policing units. Module Two (b) will involve senior managers higher in the chain of command as well as police personnel who handled intelligence provided by undercover police officers. Module Two (c) will involve a number of other government bodies with a connection to undercover policing, including the Home Office.

Three

Examination of current undercover policing practices and of how undercover policing should be conducted in future.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Undercover Policing Inquiry is constituted under the Inquiries Act 2005 (PDF, 207KB)
The Inquiry’s terms of reference were announced by the Home Secretary on 16 July 2015.
The Inquiry’s Frequently Asked Questions document provides more information on the Inquiry more generally, as do its published update notes
The Inquiry’s website is www.ucpi.org.uk and the Inquiry can be found on Twitter @ucpinquiry.