COPS: New Campaign Launching

The Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (“COPS”) is a group of organisations, individuals, and lawyers acting for or advising organisations and individuals who know – or have reason to suspect – that they have been the targets of undercover policing.

COPS has been set up in the wake of the revelation in June 2013, by the Guardian Newspaper and the Channel 4 Dispatches programme of the extent of undercover policing by the Metropolitan Police Special Demonstration Squad.  Undercover officers were deployed to find “dirt” on the Stephen Lawrence Family and discredit the family’s fight for justice.

• It has also been revealed that undercover police officers used the identities of dead children to infiltrate campaign groups and political organisations and that some of these officers engaged in sexual relationships with women involved in those groups.
• In addition, active trade unionists were targeted, blacklisted and prevented from gaining work.

COPS has no confidence in the inquiries and reviews that have been set up to consider these activities.  We call for an independent public inquiry into the revelations that undercover policing has been used against lawful political protest and campaigns.