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| Red Justice |
Time for Police Spooks to be reigned inPress Release from Scotland Against Criminalisinng CommunitiesSunday 26 April 2009 Time for Police Spooks to be reigned in SACC takes very seriously the recent revelations that undercover officers working for or with Strathclyde Police have been trying to recruit environmental activists as informers. We are asking Scottish ministers to use the powers available to them under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act to stop police interference in political activities. The police seem to believe that they have an automatic right to know everything. There is a name for countries where that right exists. They are called police states. Strathclyde Police have been reported as saying that the operation was conducted according to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA). The use of "covert human intelligence sources" in Scotland is controlled by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act (RIPSA). RIPSA was rushed through the Scottish Parliament without adequate debate and came into force on 2 October 2000. The surveillance powers that it grants to police forces and other public bodies are far too wide and far too vaguely defined. SACC has previously drawn attention to the abuse of the Act by local councils investigating anti-social behaviour, smoking and other minor matters. We are also deeply concerned at reports suggesting that Special Branch officers at Glasgow airport routinely use "stop and question" powers under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 as an opportunity to attempt to recruit informers from the Muslim community. But even though the powers available under RIPSA are wide, they are are not unlimited. The use of "covert human intelligence sources" can only be authorised if it is "necessary" for preventing or detecting crime or preventing disorder, or in the interests of public safety, or for protecting public health. So informers cannot be used in circumtances falling short of necessity. They cannot be used just because police think they may turn out to be useful. And "covert human intelligence sources" can in any case only be authorised if the operation is "proportionate to what is sought to be achieved." The "Plane Stupid" campaign targeted by the police has never carried out any violent activity. It is most unlikely that it ever will. So it is impossible to understand how the attempted invasion of privacy by police could be propotionate to anything the police could legitimately seek to achieve. In targeting campaigns like "Plane Stupid" the police aren't just undermining the privacy of a few individual activists. They are also undermining the right of people to organise politically in ways that are independent of the state. Without that right, there can be no democracy. RIPSA, despite its flaws, gives Scottish Ministers the power to prohibit particular uses of covert human intelligence sources and/or to impose requirements, in addition to those provided under RIPSA, that must be satisfied before an authorisation for an intelligence operation of this kind can be granted. SACC urges the Scottish Government to act promptly to stop police snooping on political and community activists. And in the longer run, the Scottish Parliament must replace RIPSA by legislation that properly respects individual and collective rights to privacy. In closing the debate on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Bill in the Scottish Parliament on 14 June 2000, the Deputy Minister for Justice Angus MacKay said: "The legislation that we are discussing is vital to protecting the use of those techniques by law enforcement agencies in coming to grips with organisations and activities over which - as I am sure every member of the chamber would agree - we wish to see effective law enforcement. I am thinking especially of serious organised crime and terrorist activities. The bill will allow surveillance to remain an important tool in the fight against serious crime, today and in future." That is not how RIPSA is being used. It's time for it to go. Notes 1. See "Police caught on tape trying to recruit Plane Stupid protester as spy" (The Guardian, 24 April 2009) http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009...e-police-plane-stupid-recruit-spy 2. See "anti-terror/organised crime measures targeting anti-social behaviour" (SACC, 9 June 2008) http://www.sacc.org.uk/index.php?...task=view&id=570&catid=27 |
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| Aventinian |
Re: Time for Police Spooks to be reigned in
They've not been violent, no, but they've committed criminal offences and caused a great deal of economic harm. If the police want to pursue them, then good. If you want to protest, do so within the law - then the police will have no legitimate cause to annoy you. |
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| Red Justice |
The fact is the police have been paying informers from groups and organisations that operate within the law.
The fact is also the cops should stop behaving as if they had a legitimate right to any information on any protest |
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| Shagpile |
Re: Time for Police Spooks to be reigned in
I for one would seriously wish to believe that Aventinian, however, my lifetime of experience has shown me it is not possible to niether trust nor respect the police. The DDR had the 'Stazi', the UK it seems to me have only 'Stazi'. The people "are the enemy"....... don't you know? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/u...ir-enemy-former-chief-claims.html And no matter the situation in recent years, the above applies. |
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| Rinty |
If our history was restricted to protesting within the law we wouldnt have had the reformation, the covenanters, our wars of independence, the trade union movement, votes for women ................ | ||||||||||||
| Red Justice |
Democracy or police state in the "uk"?
Check out "Scottish police are engulfed by the British disease" a good article by Kevin Williamson on his blog today http://www.kevinwilliamson.blogspot.com/ |
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| Aventinian |
Well, this PlaneStupid bunch certainly don't fall into that category. The police investigate not only when there is a crime, but when they have a suspicion one could be committed.
By all means. My respect for the police as an institution has fallen over the past few years. The recent London demo has outraged a lot of people: for me (as I think I may have mentioned on another thread) it wasn't so much the officer that knocked that man to the ground - there will always be people who misbehave in the police - but rather the masses of officers who simply sat by and did nothing. They're certainly not perfect, but in terms of investigating protest groups - if there's a legitimate suspicion they'll commit crimes, then they should be investigated.
True, to an extent, but ends do not justify means. Personally, I'd have been happier without the Covenanters and the Reformers too. |
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| Shagpile |
That can apply to any one of us Aventinian. I don't trust the police motives here and I know not to whom they are accountable..... certainly not the public and that's for sure.
Yes, I remember reading that post and I do agree with that 100%. Police are afraid of real criminals. Police get away with their failures because they can. How often has a police officer above the rank of Sergeant been charged and convicted of a crime? Compare that with the number of doctors who've been treated for drug/alcohall abuse. Police eat Do-nuts and do nothing. Police don't engage with the public. When the police solve a crime it's down to luck. When a police officer makes a mistake it's always someone else's fault. Police are always right even when they're wrong. Police are only there to make money for Lawyers. Police embody everything that is wrong in our society. Thatcher said there's no such thing as society..... that's why she gave them their biggest pay rise in their history. Police see football games for free. Police ride on busses and trains for free. Just quickly flick through the pages of Maslow's "Hierarchy Of Human Needs" and you will see why we have freebee Special Cuntstables. Complain about the police and nothing happens. If you see a policeman doing a good deed your drunk. The police are an institution beyond reform. The fact that they need a "Black Police Officers' Association" speaks volumes. They became like this because WE LET THEM BECOME LIKE THAT!
Why does that inspire me with dread, rather than confidence.
Yep..... big mistake giving women the vote. 
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| agentmancuso |
Agreed - fanatics and vandals, the lot of them. |
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