Policing - new material (92)
01 January 2011
Project Champion Review: an independent review of the commissioning, direction, control and oversight of Project Champion; including the information given to, and the involvement of, the community in this project from the initiation of the scheme up to 4 July 2010. Thames Valley Police force 30.9.10, pp. 50. Project Champion was a Labour government programme designed to spy on two Muslim areas in Birmingham using more than 200 CCTV cameras. The project was halted after an investigation by The Guardian newspaper revealed it was a covert counter-terrorism initiative and not a crime-fighting exercise. Available as a free download: http://www.westmidlands.police.uk/latestnews/docs/Champion_Review_FINAL_30_09_10.pdf
Public Statement by the Police Ombudsman under Section 62 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 Relating to the Complaint by the Relatives of the Victims of the Bombing of McGurk’s Bar, Belfast on 4 December, 1971. The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland February 2011, pp 80. This report by the Police Ombudsman examines the Ulster Volunteer Force’s (UVF) bombing of McGurk's Bar in Belfast, on 4 December 1971, which killed 15 people and injured more than 16 others. An earlier report was withdrawn after complaints by relatives of those who died that they had not been consulted and that his conclusions were biased. It is widely believed that the Northern Irish police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, colluded with the UVF in the sectarian bombing, a belief that was enhanced by RUC briefings to the media that the bomb was the result of an IRA “own goal”. In 1978, UVF member Robert Campbell was belatedly convicted for his part in the attack. The Ombudsman’s new report concludes that the RUC’s role fell short of collusion but was so biased that it prevented an effective investigation of the atrocity. The Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Matt Baggott, has been quick to assert that he now believes that all lines of enquiry have been exhausted. However Chris McGurk, who lost relatives in the blast, said that: "One of the official recommendations that the Police Ombudsman makes is that the chief constable should acknowledge the pain and hurt that the police caused and he hasn't done this.”
http://www.policeombudsman.org/Publicationsuploads/McGurk%27s---Final-Report.pdf
Farewell to NETCU: A brief history of how protest movements have been targeted by political policing. Corporate Watch 19.1.11. Corporate Watch bids farewell to the National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit (NETCU). The report notes that despite government attempts to present the reorganisation as 'cleaning up' the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) following the Mark Kennedy agent provocateur scandal, they actually predate it. The reorganisation is due to be completed by summer 2011. The report charts the rise and fall of NETCU and its sister organisations, the effect they have had on protest movements in the UK and considers what the future might hold. http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=3868
Confidence in policing among ‘seldom heard’ audiences: a National Report for the Association of Police Authorities. Ipsos MORI Social research Institute, November 2010, pp. 90. This report summarises research, conducted across six local Police Authorities (Avon and Somerset, West Yorkshire, Norfolk, West Midlands, Humberside and Hertfordshire) into how police forces can better meet the needs of specific “seldom heard” communities. It found that some communities, including young black men, Gypsies, Travellers, sex workers and young black men with mental health difficulties, had perceptions of police treatment as being “unfair”, while those with a disability or illness felt that they were often misunderstood. Travellers, in particular, spoke of a “culture of fear” that was pervasive throughout their community. http://www.apa.police.uk/news-releases/apa-launch-of-independent-research-confidence-in-policing-ipsos-mori
Met asks Colleges for Protest details, Matthew Taylor. The Guardian 17.1.11. In the midst of student protests against a draconian increase in their fees, this article reports that: “An officer from Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command has contacted universities in London with a request to pass on intelligence.” The email, which was circulated to staff at 20 universities, was from an officer from Counter-Terrorism Command working on the Prevent programme, and said: “I would be grateful if in your capacity at your various colleges that should you pick up any relevant information that would be helpful to all of us to anticipate possible demonstrations or occupations, please forward it on to me.”
Policing Public Order: an overview and review of progress against the recommendations of Adapting to Protest and Nurturing the British Model of Policing. HM Inspector of Constabulary, 2011, pp. 45. The HMIC's summary of significant demonstrations over the past 18 months shows more than half were organised by the racist English Defence League (EDL), which represents the largest public order demands on UK police forces. Aside from the tactics that accompanies the EDL, forces are struggling to keep up with innovative actions by groups such as UK Uncut, the Twitter-based campaign against tax avoidance, and recent student protests. The Metropolitan police was recently criticised after an officer sprayed CS gas at UK Uncut campaigners after one of them tried to post leaflets through the door of a Boots shop. HMIC called for broad reforms after the G20 protests, which saw the death of bystander, Ian Tomlinson, after he was assaulted by a police officer. Among the reforms envisaged by the police is how they can use social media, including Twitter. http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/feb/uk-hmic-policing-public-order.pdf
Parade Aid, Neil Wain. Police Review 18.2.11, pp. 16-17. This article, predicting a “year of discontent” and citing recent protests by students and trade unions, asks whether it is time for a Parades Commission of England and Wales, based on the Northern Ireland model. The author, who is with the Greater Manchester police force, acknowledges that there has been controversy over police use of “containment”, and in particular the practice of “kettling”, but seems to think that criticism only comes from the media, while “feedback from politicians, trade union and student organisers and the community have been overwhelmingly positive”. Wain suggests that a “protest panel could, like the one in Northern Ireland, make recommendations on the place of protest, its duration and impose conditions” but his underlying justification is to prevent the police being perceived as “agents of a government that is engaged in some of the most significant spending cuts in the history of the country.”