Police gather information

[Kevin and 10]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/25/p...emists-database

Police in £9m scheme to log 'domestic extremists'

Thousands of activists monitored on network of overlapping databases

Detailed information about the political activities of campaigners is being stored on IT systems. Photograph: Fiona Hanson/PA

Police are gathering the personal details of thousands of activists who attend political meetings and protests, and storing their data on a network of nationwide intelligence databases.

The hidden apparatus has been constructed to monitor "domestic extremists", the Guardian can reveal in the first of a three-day series into the policing of protests. Detailed information about the political activities of campaigners is being stored on a number of overlapping IT systems, even if they have not committed a crime.

Senior officers say domestic extremism, a term coined by police that has no legal basis, can include activists suspected of minor public order offences such as peaceful direct action and civil disobedience.

Three national police units responsible for combating domestic extremism are run by the "terrorism and allied matters" committee of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo). In total, it receives £9m in public funding, from police forces and the Home Office, and employs a staff of 100.

An investigation by the Guardian can reveal:

• The main unit, the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), runs a central database which lists thousands of so-called domestic extremists. It filters intelligence supplied by police forces across England and Wales, which routinely deploy surveillance teams at protests, rallies and public meetings. The NPOIU contains detailed files on individual protesters who are searchable by name.

• Vehicles associated with protesters are being tracked via a nationwide system of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras. One man, who has no criminal record, was stopped more than 25 times in less than three years after a "protest" marker was placed against his car after he attended a small protest against duck and pheasant shooting. ANPR "interceptor teams" are being deployed on roads leading to protests to monitor attendance.

• Police surveillance units, known as Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT) and Evidence Gatherers, record footage and take photographs of campaigners as they enter and leave openly advertised public meetings. These images are entered on force-wide databases so that police can chronicle the campaigners' political activities. The information is added to the central NPOIU.

• Surveillance officers are provided with "spotter cards" used to identify the faces of target individuals who police believe are at risk of becoming involved in domestic extremism. Targets include high-profile activists regularly seen taking part in protests. One spotter card, produced by the Met to monitor campaigners against an arms fair, includes a mugshot of the comedian Mark Thomas.

• NPOIU works in tandem with two other little-known Acpo branches, the National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit (Netcu), which advises thousands of companies on how to manage political campaigns, and the National Domestic Extremism Team, which pools intelligence gathered by investigations into protesters across the country.

Denis O'Connor, the chief inspector of constabulary, will next month release the findings of his national review of policing of protests. He has already signalled he anticipates wide scale change. His inspectors, who were asked to review tactics in the wake of the Metropolitan police's controversial handling of the G20 protests, are considering a complete overhaul of the three Acpo units, which they have been told lack statutory accountability.

Acpo's national infrastructure for dealing with domestic extremism was set up with the backing of the Home Office in an attempt to combat animal rights activists who were committing serious crimes. Senior officers concede the criminal activity associated with these groups has receded, but the units dealing with domestic extremism have expanded their remit to incorporate campaign groups across the political spectrum, including anti-war and environmental groups that have only ever engaged in peaceful direct action.

All three units divide their work into four categories of domestic extremism: animal rights campaigns; far-right groups such as the English Defence League; "extreme leftwing" protest groups, including anti-war campaigners; and "environmental extremism" such as Climate Camp and Plane Stupid campaigns.

Anton Setchell, who is in overall command of Acpo's domestic extremism remit, said people who find themselves on the databases "should not worry at all". But he refused to disclose how many names were on the NPOIU's national database, claiming it was "not easy" to count. He estimated they had files on thousands of people. As well as photographs, he said FIT surveillance officers noted down what he claimed was harmless information about people's attendance at demonstrations and this information was fed into the national database.

He said he could understand that peaceful activists objected to being monitored at open meetings when they had done nothing wrong. "What I would say where the police are doing that there would need to be the proper justifications," he said.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

This is what happens when you give the government broad license to bring in new powers to combat terrorism.

Which is why its better to object to these things at the time, and not when the laws are passed and its already too late.

[Heracles 417]

Nothing wrong with such practices. They are the police after all. The United States has the opposite policy (aka no proactive police work allowed) and is consequently the crime cesspool of the developed world. EG Weekly murders within eyesight of the capital. God forbid they track these gangs down and impede their rights. Now that would be the real tragedy, not the murders but people's rights. (Pike: Think of the other thread you asked a question in)

It's laughable that anyone would be concerned by that but not by private US corporations that can amass limitless information on you. Something illegal in both Canada and Australia.

Edited October 26, 2009 by Booyah!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Nothing wrong with such practices. They are the police after all.

Great if you trust the police.

[Heracles 417]

Nothing wrong with such practices. They are the police after all.

Great if you trust the police.

If we don' trust the police, or the government then who do we trust? You..

You have been watching a few too many V for Vendetta type films.

[HAL 9000 96]

Actually the FBI has plenty of gathered information on plenty of Americans, from political activists to mom and pops that may have been associated at any given point with anyone that has ever attended a public protest against any of the myriad US governmental policies, both domestic and foreign.

Cointelpro is a good starting point but it is far from being the only example. Nor is it a case of extremes.

[Heracles 417]

Actually the FBI has plenty of gathered information on plenty of Americans, from political activists to mom and pops that may have been associated at any given point with anyone that has ever attended a public protest against any of the myriad US governmental policies, both domestic and foreign.

Cointelpro is a good starting point but it is far from being the only example. Nor is it a case of extremes.

Various enforcement agencies have to purchased data from private corporations as they are not permitted to amass it by themselves. Saw it in a doco on CNBC.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Nothing wrong with such practices. They are the police after all.

Great if you trust the police.

If we don' trust the police, or the government then who do we trust? You..

You have been watching a few too many V for Vendetta type films.

You can trust the police and government but what you don't do is grant them unlimited powers.

[Heracles 417]

You can trust the police and government but what you don't do is grant them unlimited powers.

Who has advocated that? Gathering intelligence to prevent crime is hardly a case of unlimited powers.

Personally, I am more concerned about my private information amassed by private US corporations. A practice which for for obvious reasons is illegal in both Canada and Australia. Canada goes a step further and requires that your details be completely removed once you seize doing business with a company.

This whole the government and police are the bad guys attitude is another reason why crime is so rampant in the US. Not to mention the literal state the US is in. As long as those two bad guys are kept in check, all is good.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You can trust the police and government but what you don't do is grant them unlimited powers.

Who has advocated that? Gathering intelligence to prevent crime is hardly a case of unlimited powers.

BY, the Metropolitan police shot a guy to death on a subway train, lied about his "suspicious" behaviour and got away with it in court.

[Heracles 417]

BY, the Metropolitan police shot a guy to death on a subway train, lied about his "suspicious" behaviour and got away with it in court.

One guy was shot. What would the rate of such incidents be per 100,000? in the decimal places.

You have lived in both countries right? You cannot seriously tell me that you prefer it here, where the police are powerless and basically there to mop up the mess rather than prevent it. After all, it was the UK that foiled the terror attempt a few years back.

London grade surveillance is exactly what cities like DC and Chicago need in troubled areas. Instead they are restricted by the ALCU and rights. Basically no proactive police work allowed, no video surveillance allowed, and no id checks in troubled hot spots between 1am to 5am. So what do want them to do? Oh wait, they can then just (conveniently) turn around and blame it on the rich, republicans or other historical factors.

[HAL 9000 96]

A visit to Chicago's POD control center (OEMC) might be in order. This started over the last few years through a coordinated DHS effort, and the number of PODs are increasing throughout the city.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

BY, the Metropolitan police shot a guy to death on a subway train, lied about his "suspicious" behaviour and got away with it in court.

One guy was shot. What would the rate of such incidents be per 100,000? in the decimal places.

You have lived in both countries right? You cannot seriously tell me that you prefer it here, where the police are powerless and basically there to mop up the mess rather than prevent it. After all, it was the UK that foiled the terror attempt a few years back.

London grade surveillance is exactly what cities like DC and Chicago need in troubled areas. Instead they are restricted by the ALCU and rights. Basically no proactive police work allowed, no video surveillance allowed, and no id checks in troubled hot spots between 1am to 5am. So what do want them to do? Oh wait, they can then just (conveniently) turn around and blame it on the rich, republicans or other historical factors.

BY if you'd spent any degree of time in the UK you might discover that people there aren't exactly thrilled about all the electronic surveillance. It certainly isn't a point of pride. Furthermore we don't have all those CCTV cameras just to be "proactive", we have them because some bureaucrat determined that it was cheaper to set those up than it would be to recruit more beat police.

In point of fact. the regular police patrols in the UK actually have less power than the police in the US - the beat cops aren't allowed to carry guns and generally you won't see an armed officer outside of an armed response unit or the police security at airports.

[Kevin and 10]

So is it OK if a private corporation gathers info for the Government?

FISA was passed with immunity for communications companies. Banking and financial companies pass info on the .GOV

[HAL 9000 96]

So is it OK if a private corporation gathers info for the Government?

FISA was passed with immunity for communications companies. Banking and financial companies pass info on the .GOV

Not a good idea IMO. Never was.