Police maintaining special database of thousands of political activists

galleani | 06.03.2009 23:13 | Other Press | Repression

Guardian journalists claim to have uncovered evidence that the police are maintaining a database of thousands of political activists, most of whom have not been convicted of any crime.

Of particular concern to the journalists was that the evidence they obtained, which included videos taken by Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT) on various political demonstrations, showed that police seemed to be targeting journalists in particular, both in their intelligence gathering and active policing. This supports testimony from many card-carrying journalists that they have been harassed by police using overt surveillance and terrorist powers and in some cases followed to places of work and leisure. Some of these allegations have been documented by Photo-journalist Marc Vallee (

http://marcvallee.wordpress.com/) who has produced several videos (

http://current.com/topics/88799341/marc_vallee/default/0.htm ,

http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=910 )

Indication that such a database existed (which had been long suspected) first emerged in the trial of three persons in December who were accused of obstructing police officers in a FIT team who had come to conduct 'overt surveillance' (

http://fitwatch.blogspot.com/2008/12/fit-officer-admits-in-court-to.html). A police officer giving evidence indicated that a database of 'thousands' was being maintained (including details on the defendants).The latest revelations will add to calls for Police to respect peoples right to privacy, which is enshrined in the Human Rights Act, and follows the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that Police should slim down their DNA database by removing people whose convictions are spent or who were not prosecuted for their crimes (

http://p10.hostingprod.com/@spyblog.org.uk/blog/2008/12/echr-judgment-on-the-marper-case---rules-that-uk-government-and-police-indefina.html).

Article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/06/police-surveillance-protesters-journalists-climate-kingsnorth
Audio:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/audio/2009/mar/06/surveillance-justice

galleani

Comments

Hide the following 13 comments

no doubt

06.03.2009 23:37

A few weeks ago all of this was confirmed in my mind when i was followed home from a gaza demo and stopped by a gang of cops / FIT in a quiet dark street.. they didnt want to search me, their only aim was to obtain my address, name and d.o.b. ubder threat of arrest and get some good close-up photos of me. They also mentioned previous demonstrations which i had been at where they had seen me!. I was a non-violent peaceful person at the gaza demos and there was no reason i should have come to their attention. The fact they only wanted my details and not to search me - and the fact that they were telling me the protests i had been at previously really did show what the cops are up to!...

response from the MET

07.03.2009 04:03

Response from the MET:

The Met Police Public Order Branch does not hold a database of protestors. Officers are required to fill in a report detailing their deployment and interactions with the public during their tour of duty. This is not specific to public order policing. Details will include vulnerable premises visited and details of anyone stopped and searched.

The vast majority of people attending demonstrations will be of no interest to police - they will only become of interest to police when their behaviour leads them to suspect that the person may be organising and planning disorder or criminal offences at events.

Information where legally justified, which meets strict national guidelines, will be entered onto a Met police database

rupert

Response to the MET.

07.03.2009 09:43

The MET is known to be one of the most corrupt forces in the Police. This has been the case throughout history. Why should anyone believe a word you/they say?

MET Police lie and lie time and time again. Furthermore, their officers seem to be in the habit of killing innocent people, look at Jean Charles de Menenzes and Herry Stanley to name but two.

I wouldn't give an atom of credence to anything said to me by an officer in the MET, or any other Police force come to that. There are more honest criminals.

Siobhan

Response to Met 2

07.03.2009 11:15

Your assertion that the `Met Police Public Order Branch does not hold a database of protestors` may be true. This is because MI5 or MI6 hold the database to which your officers can access as required. Old habits die hard for the state. It is a matter of public record that throughout the 20th Century such files have been kept. Even the war criminal Jack Straw was on one.

AN OLD HAT

Conspiracy

07.03.2009 11:21

No doubt this database will aid more of thier "conspiracy" charges they have recently started to try out.

Winston Smith

Siobhan

07.03.2009 12:50

Siobhan

Have you ever been in the position of the officers called to deal with Harry Stanley???? i wonder if you would be brave and carry a firearm, then confront a person, and then I am sure that you would have made the right decision????? None of us should judge a situation we have not been in.

A.Non

Blue Murder

07.03.2009 14:00

"None of us should judge a situation we have not been in"

Funnily enough people regularly judge situations they have not been in, they call themselves Judges. Of course they never judged police murders. Faced with an old Scotsman with a table-leg? Shoot first and shoot to kill!

Danny

Thanks A.Non

07.03.2009 14:07

for bringing up the police killing of Harry Stanley, who was shot in the back of the head by two Met 'marksmen', both of whom bravely went on to lie in court about the events, but of course they were never prosecuted. When was the last time a serving police officer was prosecuted for killing a member of the public?

http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/feb/harry-stanley-press-release.pdf

p.s. any of you cop trolls want to give us the name and address of the Data Protection Officer of Crimint so innocent people can access the information contained on it and have it corrected/delted?

observer

@ A.Non

07.03.2009 17:24

A.Non said "None of us should judge a situation we have not been in"

Don't be ridiculous. If you follow the logic of your statement then I shouldn't make judgements about Gordon Brown because I've never been Prime Minister, or Wayne Rooney because I've never been a professional footballer.

Lanty Slee
mail e-mail: lanty.slee@hotmail.com

Bravery

07.03.2009 17:37

There is nothing brave about carrying a firearm.

Neither is there anything brave about coming up behind someone and shooting them, which is what the "brave" police officers did to Harry Stanley.

A N Other

@response to the met

07.03.2009 22:43

if the met holds no database, can you explain the nature of the 'information' passed to the Italian authorities which led to the deportation of 6 non-violent peace activists who were travelling to demonstrate in Genoa, and where this 'information' is held and by whom? I know you like to 'help the public

deportee

help the plod...

08.03.2009 00:37

...bash yourself! see you on the streets in april

Tucker's Ruckers

Freudian slip in Met statement

09.03.2009 10:01

The Met said:

"The vast majority of people attending demonstrations will be of no interest to police - they will only become of interest to police when their behaviour leads them to suspect that the person may be organising and planning disorder or criminal offences at events."

Er... shouldn't that be 'if', not 'when'? Oh, maybe not...

Wankers.

squatticus