1 Feb 2018
The Inquiry today commenced consultation on an ‘issues list’ for investigations into the Special Demonstration Squad (PDF, 61KB). The issues list will inform the investigation of deployments of undercover officers, their conduct, and the impact of their activities on themselves and others. An overview note (PDF, 44KB), which includes a question and answer sheet, has been produced to aid understanding.
As part of its Module One investigations into undercover police operations, the Inquiry will hear from individual undercover police officers. Specifically, the Inquiry anticipates asking officers about all aspects of undercover service, including their selection, training and management, as well as what they did whilst deployed undercover.
The Inquiry hopes to receive direct evidence from witnesses affected by the actions of the undercover officers to fully understand the impact it had.
The Inquiry will examine the reasons for particular deployments, and specifically whether there may have been racist, sexist or otherwise inappropriate dimensions to decisions made.
The evidence of those who supervised and managed the individual undercover police officers will be received in Module Two. In this way all of the relevant evidence will be taken into account on any given issue: some evidence will be received from witnesses in Module One; more will be received from managers in Module Two.
Responses to the consultation are sought in writing by 4pm on Thursday 15 March 2018.
A separate issues list for investigations into the National Public Order Intelligence Unit and the other modules of the Inquiry’s investigative focus will be published in due course. There will be an opportunity later in the Inquiry process for individual core participants to propose further issues relating to specific deployments which directly affected them.
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- Module three will make recommendations about 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 (PDF, 96KB) document provides more information on the Inquiry more generally, as do published update notes.
- 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