21 Jun 2018

The Chairman, Sir John Mitting, Chairman of the Undercover Policing Inquiry is today issuing a ‘minded to’ note (PDF, 221KB) in respect of 6 former Special Demonstration Squad officers, with a further 13 making no anonymity application.

The Chairman is minded to:

  • Restrict the real name of HN4 and consider the application for a restriction over the cover name at a closed hearing
  • Restrict the real name of HN30. There is no cover name
  • Restrict the real names of HN18 and HN126, but refuse the application for restriction of the cover name
  • Restrict the real and cover names for two officers, HN91 and HN97
  • No applications were made for HN29, HN36, HN39, HN49, HN511, HN52, HN69, HN110, HN129, HN217, HN221 , HN314 and HN350. These officers were either managers or back office staff, who did not use a cover name and whose real name will be published when the evidence relating to them is published, or were cover officers (not undercover officers) whose cover names will be considered at the document redaction stage

Further information is required before a decision can be made on HN 135.

An officer or manager asked to give open evidence will either be asked to give their evidence in their cover name or, where not the subject of a restriction order, in their real name. In some instances, even where officers or managers who have been granted a restriction order they will be expected to provide evidence under a cypher.

Today’s note is accompanied by a direction (PDF, 25KB) in respect of closed hearings and an explanatory note (PDF, 6.9MB). updated by the Inquiry’s counsel detailing the current status of all 162 officers to have been included in the anonymity process as at the end of May 2018.

This ‘minded to’ note and ruling, brings the total number of decisions, final or provisional, made on Special Demonstration Squad officers to 110. There have been 48 cases where no applications have been made, of which 3 will mean the publication of real and cover names and 45 will result in real names being published because there are no cover names. Of the 162 officers considered in the anonymity process to date, 114 officers will have real name, cover name or both made public subject to responses to the minded to decisions. In 35 cases, real and cover name will be restricted. In 6 cases, no cover name is yet known (these names may be published if they become known) and the real name will be restricted. In 3 cases further information is required.

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

  1. The Undercover Policing Inquiry is constituted under the Inquiries Act 2005 (PDF, 207KB)
  2. The Inquiry’s terms of reference were announced by the Home Secretary on 16 July 2015.
  3. The Inquiry’s Strategic Review (PDF, 829KB) was published in May 2018.
  4. The Inquiry’s Frequently Asked Questions (PDF, 96KB) document provides more information on the Inquiry more generally, as do its published update notes
  5. The Inquiry’s website is www.ucpi.orq.uk and the Inquiry can be found on Twitter @ucpinquiry.

For further information please contact the Inquiry’s Head of Communications, Jo Coles:

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 07766 524224