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The No Police Spies campaign

No Police Spies | 22.02.2011 18:41 | Social Struggles | World

The No Police Spies campaign has been set up to call for an independent judge-led inquiry into the police infiltration of protest groups. We are seeking a wide-ranging inquiry, that will addres the many and serious issues that have emerged in recent weeks following the exposure of undercover police officers operting inside the UK protest movement.

The issue of out-of-control undercover policing has led to widespread media and public outrage. Yet, we feel that we only stand a chance of holding the police to account for this disgraceful practice if all the facts are laid bare and made public, and the police are forced to answer the many serious questions that have emerged. An independent public inquiry will go a long way to holding the police to account, and may even lead to changes which significantly reduce police powers.

The police do not want a public inquiry. They’ve tried to drown out talk of a proper inquiry by launching four investigations of their own, all of which are being conducted by bodies barely at arm’s length from those whose decisions are being investigated, and all hopelessly narrow in remit. They’ve also tried to diffuse the pressure with a couple of ill-thought through reforms, such as moving the unit responsible for spying on protesters to under the command of the anti-terror chief.

The police know that many of their actions are unjustifiable and in several cases could well be illegal. These actions include but are not limited to serious allegations such as suppressing evidence from the courts, sexual misconduct of serving officers and officers acting as agents provocateurs. Police-led inquiries will not adequately address these issues. Our bets chance of holding the police to account and forcing changes in law which may reduce their powers is to push for an independent inquiry. As the police run for cover, seeking to avoid scrutiny as they’ve been doing for years, our determination to press for answers only grows.

***************

No Police Spies came out of small group of individuals who felt this was a good course of action to pursue. However, No Police Spies doesn’t in any way wish to be seen as “the movement’s response” to the revelations that have emerged – it is simply one response among many. A whole range of responses are taking shape, and will take shape in the future. These may range from the practical to the legal to the political. The effects of undercover police officers, combined with the diversity of groups they infiltrated, mean that there was never going to be a single appropriate response.

No Police Spies is an autonomous campaign. It does not seek to speak for any group or individuals.

We are aware some groups may not want to have their name directly associated with the campaign for political or legal reasons. To this end we have now put a disclaimer on the website making clear the campaign is not affiliated to those groups who Mark Kennedy infiltrated. See here: www.nopolicespies.org.uk/disclaimer

****************

The campaign would very much benefit from wider participation, and needs a variety of skills to be effective. If you are keen to get involved, do contact us at  info@nopolicespies.org.uk

Even if the campaign isn’t really your sort of thing, but you feel there is something we should know, please speak to us. The broader the range of input, the better for all concerned.

Finally, we are aware that the issue of undercover police officers touches on some very sensitive issues, and the last thing anyone campaigning for an end to police spying wants to do is to add to the upset individuals are feeling. To this end, we have set up a specific highly confidential email address for individuals to raise concerns about how the campaign is communicating. We have already made language changes having heard such concerns with individuals, and would be swift to make more should concerns we haven’t yet identified be raised. Email  inconfidence@nopolicespies.org.uk

Check out and join:
www.nopolicespies.org.uk
www.facebook.com/nopolicespies
www.twitter.com/nopolicespies

No Police Spies
- e-mail: info@nopolicespies.org.uk
- Homepage: http://www.nopolicespies.org.uk

Comments

Display the following 62 comments

  1. Waste of time — NL
  2. liberal crap by — crap liberals
  3. yuk — makes me sick
  4. Paranoid witch hunts can do more harm than good — r
  5. Well Said Crap liberal.... — Aunty Christ
  6. Yeah I agree... — Lev Chernyi
  7. Why No 'Police' Spies? — PS
  8. This stinks! — No Liberal Parasites Campaign
  9. Don't harrass the white, middle-class liberals PLEASE! — A.C.A.B.
  10. I support this...I think — ACAB
  11. typical rhetorical crap acab — anon
  12. A complete waste of time — Jax
  13. Class, class, class... — MG
  14. @MG — middle class anon
  15. Who are these people? — anon
  16. It's not an attack on being middle class.. — Jon
  17. Attn anon middle class — The world's smallest violin
  18. THANK YOU JON! — Struggling!
  19. You are all completely wrong! — No Police Spies supporter
  20. Class — Tom
  21. Well done No Police Spies supporter! — LOL!
  22. No! — Activist
  23. Entertaining comments — anon
  24. "Campaigning for an end to political policing" — A.C.A.B.
  25. Why it makes me angry — @
  26. call out and respect where due — anon
  27. Oh look... — Joe
  28. No Police Spies IS an activist-led campaign! — No Police Spies supporter
  29. You arrogant shits — Not a No Police Spies supporter
  30. Jesus Christ... — Rudeboy
  31. To the No Police Spies Supporter... — dave
  32. 'Genuine activists'?! — Long-standing activist
  33. To Anon — Another Anon
  34. Fleet St spies — Anonymous
  35. The arrogant middle-class — CW
  36. You can align yourselves with the State — nuff said
  37. We need to use the mainstream media — No Police Spies supporter
  38. Constructive debate — Alienated
  39. Good example of media assistance — No Police Spies supporter
  40. To Brad and No Police Spies Supporter — HG
  41. HG — GH
  42. Respect? — Observation
  43. To GH — HG
  44. the nature of the state — p
  45. The UK "activist" movement is a joke... — A. Realist
  46. Some more criticsm. — Yah
  47. Nonsense — ...
  48. Support this and smash the state — (A)
  49. a call for more mutual respect — .
  50. comment 50... — unnecessary
  51. Comment 51 — ;-)
  52. Justifiable anger — My 1st post
  53. confusion here — rouserbouser
  54. Traitors to what? — GH
  55. "The issue of out-of-control undercover policing" — Anarchist
  56. "working with independent production companies" — My 1st post
  57. stop and think — unnecessary
  58. Duh.. — Rudeboy
  59. To GH and everyone else... — HG
  60. problem with this campaign — -
  61. Secure email needs to use PGP — anon
  62. The Final Nail in my coffin — I am out of here
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