![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() More could and should have been done to reduce the risk of sexual misconduct by the undercover officers.” “There is also evidence that the risk of sexual misconduct was both obvious and recognised. “Moreover, the intrusion resulting from the SDS’s operations was into very sensitive areas of people’s lives: their political lives, their financial affairs, their legal affairs, their families, their friendships and even, in some instances, their sex lives.”īarr said at least five undercover officers deceived women into sexual relationships in these early operations, and there was evidence that the unit’s managers knew about the deception. Summarising its broad conclusions from this first phase, Barr said: “The level of intrusion into people’s lives arising from SDS operations, particularly once long-term deployments became the norm, was very considerable. The first phase of the inquiry has focused on the early covert operations run by the SDS between 19. ![]() The officers were sent on deployments, usually lasting four years, to infiltrate political groups and acquire information about the activities of campaigners. The inquiry, led by the former judge Sir John Mitting, is examining how 139 undercover officers spied on more than 1,000 mainly leftwing groups between 1968 and at least 2010. Democratic freedoms have been infringed, outrage and pain has been caused.” He said the unit’s “operations have caused a lot of harm. The critical evaluation of the unit, known as the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), was made public on Monday by David Barr KC, the inquiry’s most senior barrister. Senior Whitehall officials, some of them in the Cabinet Office, and top police officers knew about the unit, which was part of a highly covert state-funded apparatus that spied on leftwing and progressive groups, the inquiry concluded. The inquiry found that the managers of the unit frequently approved reports that contained “many examples” of racism and sexism. ![]()
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