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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Police chief appears to squirm over sex | Police chief appears to squirm over sex |
| (7 days later) | |
| More squirming from police chiefs today when the question of the long-term or sexual relationships between undercover officers and activists arose in public. | More squirming from police chiefs today when the question of the long-term or sexual relationships between undercover officers and activists arose in public. |
| Jenny Jones, the Green member the London assembly, raised what she called the "problematic" issue at the committee overseeing the Metropolitan police. | Jenny Jones, the Green member the London assembly, raised what she called the "problematic" issue at the committee overseeing the Metropolitan police. |
| At times, Craig Mackey, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, seemed to struggle for his words when he answered the questions. | At times, Craig Mackey, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, seemed to struggle for his words when he answered the questions. |
| He said an undercover officer would not be authorised to start a sexual relationship with an activist, but added the curious caveat "not ordinarily". | He said an undercover officer would not be authorised to start a sexual relationship with an activist, but added the curious caveat "not ordinarily". |
| Challenged on that, he said :"You can't write a rule for every particular scenario". He claimed that the document which sets out what each undercover officer is authorised to do is not so detailed that it covered the subject. | Challenged on that, he said :"You can't write a rule for every particular scenario". He claimed that the document which sets out what each undercover officer is authorised to do is not so detailed that it covered the subject. |
| Many may be surprised that something which appears to have happened regularly is not dealt with in the rules. | Many may be surprised that something which appears to have happened regularly is not dealt with in the rules. |
| Mackey also said that undercover officers have to report any sexual relationship to their supervisor immediately. | Mackey also said that undercover officers have to report any sexual relationship to their supervisor immediately. |
| Mackey also repeated the line from the now-departed policing minister Nick Herbert, suggesting that undercover officers could have sex with an activist, since a complete ban would give the people they were infiltrating a way of testing whether they were working for the police. | Mackey also repeated the line from the now-departed policing minister Nick Herbert, suggesting that undercover officers could have sex with an activist, since a complete ban would give the people they were infiltrating a way of testing whether they were working for the police. |
| "It is very hard to write a rule for" that, said Mackey. | "It is very hard to write a rule for" that, said Mackey. |
| Two other things - he claimed that it is the "expectation" of the police that undercover officers will not now engage in long-term relationships. | Two other things - he claimed that it is the "expectation" of the police that undercover officers will not now engage in long-term relationships. |
| He said that the long-term relationships from the past which he called "well-documented" could not happen now, providing the handler was doing their job properly. | He said that the long-term relationships from the past which he called "well-documented" could not happen now, providing the handler was doing their job properly. |
| UPDATE | UPDATE |
| A clip of the exchange between Jenny Jones and Craig Mackey has been posted onto YouTube. You can watch it here. | A clip of the exchange between Jenny Jones and Craig Mackey has been posted onto YouTube. You can watch it here. |
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