July 7th People's Independent Inquiry Forum -> Plod Watch

Plod Watch, Spotting the Chequered Force

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indisguise

Posted: Nov 23 2009, 09:14 PM

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics...g-violence.html

QUOTE

Police using 300 year-old law to target gang violence

Police are using a 300-year-old law to prosecute gangs after violent attacks, including members who just stand by and watch.

Officers in London are targeting youth violence with the so-called Joint Enterprise law which allows them to charge any suspects present at an incident with the same offence as those directly involved.

It means a youth who encourages or watches another gang member kill someone could also be charged with murder.

Detective Superintendent Simon Morgan, of the Metropolitan Police, said: "Standing by is not a defence.

"Anybody and everybody that is involved in an incident of violence, we will look to identify them and if the evidence is there, we will look to prosecute them."

But the move has met criticism, including the Law Commission which warned it is being used to scoop up anyone present at the time of an attack instead of focusing on those responsible.

Professor Jeremy Horder, of the Law Commission, told the BBC Panorama programme: "It may be that only some members of the gang endorsed or encouraged or helped the killing, others did nothing of the sort.

"But they're all being scooped up in with it."

However Helen Newlove, whose husband Garry was beaten to death by a gang of youths, backed it.

One of the three convicted of his killing was Jordan Cunliffe, who has maintained his innocence saying he did not participate in the attack

But Mrs Newlove said: "Would you stand there watching somebody else kicking and punching? Would you actually think that was right to watch even if you didn't do the act? Because I certainly wouldn't. They were as guilty as the person doing the act."

The Met police is now warning youngsters in the capital of its tough stance with a tour and video presentation at schools and youth groups.

The Antagonist

Posted: Nov 24 2009, 11:05 AM

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QUOTE

Page last updated at 10:43 GMT, Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Pc suspended over criminal probe

A police officer has been suspended from duty until the outcome of a criminal investigation, Northern Constabulary has said.

The force's professional standards and conduct unit will investigate the allegation against the officer.

A report will also be sent to the procurator fiscal.

A spokeswoman said: "The force has around 800 high performing officers and the suspension of officers for suspected criminality is very rare."

She added: "It would be inappropriate for the force to comment further on the investigation at this stage."

The Antagonist

Posted: Nov 24 2009, 01:16 PM

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QUOTE

Police officer had 'unhealthy interest' in prostitutes
PA
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
The Independent

A police officer who neglected his duties while he indulged in an "unhealthy interest" in prostitutes escaped punishment today.

Robert Bowen, who has now quit his job as a traffic officer with Greater Manchester Police (GMP), ignored an emergency call-out and left his colleagues in the lurch to visit red light districts while he was on duty, Warrington Crown Court heard.

The former Pc, 45, had won three commendations during his 26-year career with the force which was now in tatters, Judge Thomas Teague QC was told.

The judge agreed that Bowen, who admitted one count of misconduct in a public office, had suffered enough and gave him a two year conditional discharge.

Maria Masselis, prosecuting, said the officer's behaviour had aroused the suspicion of colleagues and he was placed under surveillance by GMP's Professional Standards Branch.

Ms Masselis told the judge: "This allegation relates to Bowen's neglect of his duties in favour of an unhealthy interest in sex workers."

Between February and August last year Bowen, who was based at Whitefield Police station, was followed 19 times by undercover officers as he carried out his duties.

Towards the end of the investigation period a patrol car he regularly used was covertly bugged with video and audio recording equipment, Ms Masselis said.

On July 7, as he went out on a solo patrol in the bugged car, surveillance officers watched and listened as Bowen ignored an emergency call out by the force's control room for officers to attend a serious fight at a take away in Manchester city centre.

Ms Masselis said earlier that day a memorial service to former GMP Chief Constable Michael Todd had been held and because of the force's staffing commitments to that event, city centre policing was understaffed that night.

She said: "His duties extended beyond road policing and he was required to attend more serious duties than he was dealing with."

Ms Masselis said the emergency call to the take away, on Bloom Street, was made shortly after 3am.

The prosecutor said it was a Category One incident, requiring immediate response from patrols.

But although Bowen was the nearest available officer - surveillance showed he was in the city's red light district a short distance away - he failed to respond.

In fact, covert listening equipment in the car recorded him saying "What a load of shit" as he received the message on his radio.

indisguise

Posted: Nov 25 2009, 10:50 AM

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/no...lice-broadhurst

QUOTE

G20 police chief accused of misleading MPs about undercover mission

Inquiry finds undercover police deployed at G20 protests to spy on activists, contrary to Bob Broadhurst's denial to MPs

Plainclothes police with batons at G20 protests Video Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2009/ap...nclothes-police

A Scotland Yard commander was accused of misleading parliament tonight after an inquiry found that undercover police were secretly deployed at the G20 protests to spy on activists, contrary to the police chief's denials.

Commander Bob Broadhurst, who had overall command of the G20 policing operation, told the home affairs select committee in May that "no plain clothes officers [were] deployed at all" during the demonstrations in the City of London.

It has emerged that 25 undercover City of London police were stationed around the Bank of England to gather "intelligence" on protesters on 1 and 2 April. Broadhurst stands by the evidence he gave to MPs, claiming the deployment of undercover officers was unknown to him.

The disclosure will add to pressure on the Metropolitan police, who will tomorrow be forced to react to the findings of a long-awaited government inquiry into the policing of protest. This inquiry, by Denis O'Connor, head of the government's policing inspectorate, was set up after criticism of the Met's handling of the protests, at which Ian Tomlinson, a newspaper seller, died after being attacked by police.

The inquiry's report is expected to call for a radical overhaul of public order policing, and to suggest that the heavy-handed way that forces handle protest threatens a broader breakdown in trust in the police.

Details about the use of undercover officers were revealed in four months of correspondence between senior police officers and MPs, who were surprised by the evidence given by Broadhurst when he appeared with the Met commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson. Both men were questioned by the Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake on the use of plain clothes officers. Brake, the MP for Carshalton and Wallington, had seen a video broadcast by the Guardian that apparently showed two plain clothes officers wielding batons and walking among a line of riot police.

Broadhurst replied: "The officers we deploy for intelligence purposes at public order are forward intelligence team officers who [wear] full police uniforms with a yellow jacket with blue shoulders." He added: "There were not plain clothes officers deployed by me or anybody on the operation." But later he wrote to Brake, revealing that the officers in the video, shot by Jason Parkinson on 2 April, were City of London officers.

The assistant commissioner at the City of London police, Frank Armstrong, then told the MP that about 25 undercover officers were deployed during the protests.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the select committee, has written to Broadhurst suggesting the disclosure about plain clothes officers "contradicts" his evidence to MPs. Broadhurst claimed the officers filmed marching among Met and City of London riot police were "evidence gatherers" seeking to identify a certain protester.

Brake said Broadhurst had "inadvertently misled" parliament, thus revealing a "startling lack of co-ordination" in the top ranks. "If plain clothes officers were only deployed to gather intelligence why is one clearly seen brandishing a baton?"

The Antagonist	Posted: Nov 27 2009, 02:02 PM
Antagonista Group: Admin Posts: 8,491 Member No.: 1 Joined: 25-November 05	Draw your own conclusions: Should Boris Johnson be first elected police chief?

amirrortotheenemy

Posted: Nov 28 2009, 01:05 AM

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Joined: 6-November 06

QUOTE (indisguise @ Nov 25 2009, 10:50 AM)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/no...lice-broadhurst

QUOTE

G20 police chief accused of misleading MPs about undercover mission

Inquiry finds undercover police deployed at G20 protests to spy on activists, contrary to Bob Broadhurst's denial to MPs

Plainclothes police with batons at G20 protests Video Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2009/ap...nclothes-police

A Scotland Yard commander was accused of misleading parliament tonight after an inquiry found that undercover police were secretly deployed at the G20 protests to spy on activists, contrary to the police chief's denials.

Commander Bob Broadhurst, who had overall command of the G20 policing operation, told the home affairs select committee in May that "no plain clothes officers [were] deployed at all" during the demonstrations in the City of London.

It has emerged that 25 undercover City of London police were stationed around the Bank of England to gather "intelligence" on protesters on 1 and 2 April. Broadhurst stands by the evidence he gave to MPs, claiming the deployment of undercover officers was unknown to him.

The disclosure will add to pressure on the Metropolitan police, who will tomorrow be forced to react to the findings of a long-awaited government inquiry into the policing of protest. This inquiry, by Denis O'Connor, head of the government's policing inspectorate, was set up after criticism of the Met's handling of the protests, at which Ian Tomlinson, a newspaper seller, died after being attacked by police.

The inquiry's report is expected to call for a radical overhaul of public order policing, and to suggest that the heavy-handed way that forces handle protest threatens a broader breakdown in trust in the police.

Details about the use of undercover officers were revealed in four months of correspondence between senior police officers and MPs, who were surprised by the evidence given by Broadhurst when he appeared with the Met commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson. Both men were questioned by the Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake on the use of plain clothes officers. Brake, the MP for Carshalton and Wallington, had seen a video broadcast by the Guardian that apparently showed two plain clothes officers wielding batons and walking among a line of riot police.

Broadhurst replied: "The officers we deploy for intelligence purposes at public order are forward intelligence team officers who [wear] full police uniforms with a yellow jacket with blue shoulders." He added: "There were not plain clothes officers deployed by me or anybody on the operation." But later he wrote to Brake, revealing that the officers in the video, shot by Jason Parkinson on 2 April, were City of London officers.

The assistant commissioner at the City of London police, Frank Armstrong, then told the MP that about 25 undercover officers were deployed during the protests.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the select committee, has written to Broadhurst suggesting the disclosure about plain clothes officers "contradicts" his evidence to MPs. Broadhurst claimed the officers filmed marching among Met and City of London riot police were "evidence gatherers" seeking to identify a certain protester.

Brake said Broadhurst had "inadvertently misled" parliament, thus revealing a "startling lack of co-ordination" in the top ranks. "If plain clothes officers were only deployed to gather intelligence why is one clearly seen brandishing a baton?"

QUOTE

G20 police chief accused of misleading MPs about undercover mission

Inquiry finds undercover police deployed at G20 protests to spy on activists, contrary to Bob Broadhurst's denial to MPs

Paul Lewis
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 24 November 2009 22.00 GMT

Paul Lewis is attempting to rewrite history. Broadhurst statements were in response to Tom Brake's questions that were not about a pair of undercover officers wielding batons but about a pair of agent provocateurs. Perhaps there's no outright falsehood, but several 'misplaced' lines invite faulty conclusions.

From Tom Brake's G20 report:

QUOTE

Just before 6.30pm

A demonstrator and a different photographer (from a national newspaper) then claimed they had seen one people in the crowd, believed to be a police officer, throw something from the crowd at the police lines. They mentioned that to me and I observed two men leaving through the police lines in King William Street I believe. Please find below the photographer�s statement:

Antonio Olmos, freelance photographer for The Observer Magazine:

�During the G20 protests which I was photographing for the Observer Newspaper I witnessed an incident which I relayed to Tom Brake MP. I had seen an individual wearing black clothes who in my mind looked like a rugby player not a protester, who who seemed to be encouraging his fellow protesters to be more aggressive toward to police, ie, in the throwing of bottles, pushing against police lines etc. Just as I noticed this behaviour several protesters turned on this individual and accused him of being police. The individual quickly went past me and then past where Tom Brake and a legal observer where standing. He produced some sort of ID when he approached the police lines and he was quickly let through, at a time when no one, including press where being allowed to leave the police cordon around the Bank of England. Soon after witnessing this I told Tom Brake and the legal observer next to him of what I had seen and if they had witnessed it as well.

I must be clear that while I witnessed this, it is only after the individual in question crossed police lines did I take notice. It is obvious to me that the man in question was a policeman. I don't doubt that the police have to do covert surveillance of certain violent individuals among the protesters. What I find disturbing is that they may be encouraging a type of behaviour that justifies an over the top police response to what is otherwise a peaceful protest.

I can not say that I could now identify the individual I saw or say for certain that he was a policeman. What I saw did make me suspicious and disturbed of police tactics.�

Source (PDF)

The Guardian itself reported Brake's original concerns on the 10th May (includes link to video).

QUOTE

Grimond Room
Meeting started on Tuesday 19 May at 10.30am
ended at 12.17pm
G20 Protests
Witnesses

1. Sir Paul Stephenson QPM, Commissioner, Metropolitan Police Service
2. Commander Bob Broadhurst QPM, Metropolitan Police Service

parliament.tv - HoC Home Affairs Committee

Brake's questions are from 0:48:00

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