Documents and direction relating to anonymity applications: Special Demonstration Squad

3 Jul 2018

The Inquiry is today publishing 31 documents comprising applications. risk assessments, impact statements and gisted information from supporting evidence (PDF, 133KB), in respect of 11 former Special Demonstration Squad officers. In his statement on 22 January 2018 (PDF, 37KB) the Chairman confirmed that the Inquiry will continue to publish open documentation in relation to restriction orders he is minded to grant. The statement explained that what will be published in any given case will depend on what order the Chairman is minded to make.

In his statement on 18 May 2018 (PDF, 52KB) the Chairman announced that there would not be oral hearings on anonymity applications. As such the direction (PDF, 155KB) published today invites written submissions from core participants and the Media by 4pm on Friday 20 July 2018.

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. Decisions on anonymity applications are taken in line with the 3 May 2016 Legal Principles and Approach Ruling (PDF, 583KB).
2. The Undercover Policing Inquiry is constituted under the Inquiries Act 2005 (PDF, 207KB).
3. The Inquiry’s terms of reference were announced by the Home Secretary on 16 July 2015.
4. The Inquiry’s FAQs provide more information on the Inquiry more generally, as do its published update notes.
5. 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 on:

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 07766 524224