Met condemns and apologises for actions of Spycops unit

Peter Skelton KC representing Metropolitan Police at Undercover Police Inquiry

At the Undercover Policing Public Inquiry on Monday July 1st 2024 in Central London the Metropolitan Police [MPS], through its lawyer Peter Skelton KC, slammed the Special Demonstration Squad [SDS] – its deployments, tactics, racism, sexism and poor management. The SDS secretly infiltrated and targeted over 1,000 political and campaigning groups from 1968-2007. Evidence about its activities and tactics in the 1980s and 1990s is being heard this month at the Inquiry.

The Metropolitan Police made a series of damning admissions today over the SDS’s Undercover Policing operations during that period – concluding that “These serious failings have damaged public confidence in the use of undercover policing”. Their admissions, in the Statement read out by Mr Skelton to the Inquiry chair, Sir John Mitting, and broadcast live, included:

” First, at least nine undercover officers in Tranche 2 [T2] engaged in deceitful sexual relationships whilst they were deployed. This was completely unacceptable. So too was the failure of their managers to identify and prevent those relationships from happening. The MPS apologises to the women affected, and to the public, for these failings and for the wider culture of sexism and misogyny which allowed them to happen. ” [Para 3]

” Second, there was unnecessary reporting on political and social justice campaigns, family justice campaigns, community organisations as well as groups that were campaigning for police accountability. ” [Para 4]

” Third… there was a general failure by the SDS’s managers and by senior managers in MPSB to lead the SDS properly and effectively. These failings extended beyond the issues of illicit sexual relationships and improper engagement with the criminal justice system [eg. see para 44]. Other unprofessional behaviour by UCOs includ[ed] inappropriate reporting and the claiming of illegitimate expenses. ” [Para 5]

” During the T2 period, findings of sexism in the MPS were made by the independent People and Police in London study, particularly in its 1983 report, ‘The Police in Action’. More recent reviews have demonstrated that sexism and misogyny continue to be widespread and enduring features of the culture within the MPS. The prevalence of sexual misconduct on the part of SDS officers in the T2 period, the general disregard for the personal autonomy and dignity of the women affected, together with the inaction or indifference of their managers in response, is a clear and acute manifestation of that culture – for which the MPS unreservedly apologises. ” [Para 29]

” It is particularly indefensible that many of the anti-racism campaigns mentioned in SDS reports were seeking justice for members of the Black and Asian communities in London and were attempting to hold the MPS itself accountable for the way in which it policed those communities. The MPS accepts the corrosive effect this type of discriminatory policing has on public trust and apologises unreservedly for this. The fact that the SDS reported on these groups was the result of a critical failure on the part of its managers and senior managers within MPSB to ensure that SDS deployments were conducted in accordance with proper professional and ethical standards. It is also an example of unacceptable political policing by MPSB [Special Branch].. The MPS accepts corporate responsibility for these failings. Although there have been areas of progress since the T2 period, racism and discrimination remain an enduring challenge within the MPS…The MPS is committed to rebuilding the trust of Black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities in London. ” [Para 71]

The Met Statement concludes: ” Sexual relationships should not have occurred. Reporting on justice and anti-racism groups who posed no criminal or public order threat should not have occurred and would not occur today. Open-ended long-term deployments, which caused a level of personal intrusion that was out of proportion with their value, should have been reassessed and ended. Further, the MPS should not have allowed a culture of exceptionalism and impunity to develop within the SDS.” [Para 80]… These serious failings have damaged public confidence in the use of undercover policing. ” [Para 81]