Police spies in dirty tricks campaign against Stephen Lawrence's family

[edam]

A police officer says he was ordered to go undercover and gain the trust of the Lawrence family, while they were fighting for justice after an incompetent/corrupt investigation into their sons's murder, in order to discredit them.

AND this dirty tricks campaign - which came to nothing, obviously - the Lawrences were just a grieving family who had been terribly let down by racist/corrupt cops - was never disclosed to the McPherson inquiry.

So the Met has lied for decades, not only to the family, but also to a judicial inquiry. And, incidentally, behaved as if finding out someone had been on a demo was somehow wrong and discreditable. Instead of, you know, something we are all entitled to do in a democracy...

Just when you think the Met can't get any lower... Absolutely despicable. And a complete waste of time and money, to boot.

Met's response is basically an admission that yes, they did this.

Damian Green on TV saying he trusts the police. Well that's all right then. Don't know what's got into young black men

The most senior officer is hardly likely to come out saying oh yes. It was my idea! Luckily the police had the good sense to record all the incriminating details in one place and shred them before Lord Justice Macpherson could get his hands on them.

Heaven forbid that anybody finds out what the police do in those stations all day.

A good time to be trusting anybody is when they've got you pinned up against a wall with their hands down the back of your trousers. When the police extended their stop and search powers did they tell anyone what they were looking for, exactly?

i feel let down - im a cop. im disgusted.

(im not in the met though....even so.) this is a massive stain on all policing and all police. i sometimes feel like im just wasting my time - there is no defence for this. none. no wonder people distrust us. i feel like im swimming against the tide lately.

I didn't think that anything new had come up. It seems that the government are actually manipulating situations to make the police appear very bad and incompetent. Every industry has idiots working for them, I think this is part of a bigger plan by the government to make serious scary changes to policing in this country. If you think it's bad now, it's going to get a lot worse.

I have been following this.

So it looks like a murderer's dad bribed the police to leave it alone.

Well I'm not surprised.

The thing in all of this, that I find astounding. Is the absolute, incredible, determination of the Lawrence family to see this through and find the truth.

If they had not been so dogged, even the original enquiry would not have happened, revealing the Met as institutionally racist.

(Like they aren't now, ha)

I applaud the Lawrence's for going up against an organisation which was entirely against them (this is the police FFS they should be FOR the poeple) and keeping at it.

The crimes of the Met don't start or end here either.

I said to my DH last night. The Met. If you aren't white, they're no good. If you are under about 21, they're no good. If you are female, they are No Good.

The Met is a MESS and needs a total rethink.

IMO.

And you know it makes me ANGRY

Large tracts of London just simply do not trust the Met.

That is NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

I am a white, privileged, woman. I don't trust them. Why? Because of my experiences with them. 20% fine. 80% total utter bastards.

If I feel like that, then what chance does a non white child for example have of a positive experience.

ZERO hence the fucking riots etc.

It is a huge issue and needs sorting PDQ.

Every time you think the Met have finally plumbed the depths, they sink even further. That force is not just riddled with corruption, they are riddled with inhumanity and criminality and an appalling determination to cause even more suffering amongst innocent victims - and even more miscarriages of justice.

Looks like every fecking case the Met's 'Special Demonstration Squad' had their dirty hands on will have to be reopened, and lots of convictions will be overturned. At huge personal cost to the people involved, and huge financial cost as well.

I feel sorry for decent people like Vicar who feel tarnished by association with the feckers at the Met. But most of all I feel sorry for the Lawrences and for the family of Daniel Morgan - BBC news tonight made a link, the officer suspected of corruption with the gangster dad of one of the killers of Stephen Lawrence was also responsible for the appalling stench around the 'failed' (deliberately stuffed up) investigation into Morgan's death.

Also links to phone hacking - one of the Screws of the World's favourite private eyes was involved in frustrating the investigation. And the Screws was snooping on the entirely reputable officer called in to look at what the hell had gone on... and when this emerged as part of the phone hacking expose, their excuse was 'we thought he was having an affair. With his own wife'. Always sounded highly dodgy.

I kind of got the sense from the piece on the news that the police might have been implicated in Morgan's death. As opposed to simply not investigating it properly.

that was what i took away, anyway.

I think you were right to see that message and right that it is far more than incompetence.

I was on a thread here a little while ago, about the riots maybe.

MNers who are police officers in other areas were really, I dunno. Not interested in what the Met had done.

I found that odd. In my industry we are encouraged to keep abreast of stuff that is happening.

I discussed it with DH and his view was it's all a bit "us and them" and anything in the papers which is "against" (even if true) is sort of put to one side as "against", by the institution and the culture there.

I find all of this stuff deeply disturbing, and have done for ages. Every week it seems there is something and now NOW all these years after Stephen died stuff is still coming out.

It's disgusting.

Brian Paddick, while giving testimony at the press enquiry thingy, said that a report damning the Met's handling of rape cases had been watered down and then buried.

There is something VERY WRONG at the heart of the Met and it needs excising like Right Now.

If you live in London, and you are a certain sort of person, or it is a certain type of crime, you know the police won't come. They aren't interested.

And then they show an ENORMOUS interest in people who haven't fucking done anything wrong. And sometimes kill them.

I am a Londoner born and bred and I DO NOT TRUST THE POLICE.

One of my family members served on the jury and was so proud that she helped put Stephen Lawrence's killers behind bars.

It was more meaningful to her as she lived in Brixton for years, has a black partner and mixed race children. She experienced first hand the attitudes of the Met towards black youths back in the 80's and the sly and underhand institutional racism. (as have I)

She met Stephen's mum after the trial and was overwhelmed by her gracious attitude and gratitude that justice was done. And now this, it makes me sick.

YY The Lawrence family are just amazing. Really really amazing. To keep at it like that, and we all know the sort of shit they will have got, and they just kept at it.

They are the sort of people who we could do in positions of genuine power. Imagine if they had power and influence in the Met. It would be amazing.

People elsewhere in the UK imagine, I think, that trouble in London is confined to certain small groups.

They are WRONG.

I understand why the riots happened after Mark Duggan was killed. Most people in London do. I think. The politicians fucked up there.

Too many people here do not trust the police, and they have GOOD REASON for that lack of trust.

nice what evidence do you have that other mn'ers who are police arent interested in what the met had done?

im interested.

i do feel that there has been a smear campaign by the government to justify their cuts - but immoral, illegal, and down right dishonest practice does not do any of us any good. i feel deeply saddened by what the met has done.
i have no truck with any of this nonsense - and it upsets me that i, as a police officer, may be tarred with that same brush. i joined the police force only 4 years ago. i am a middle aged woman, with a son with sn, and hopefully of the mindset that most people i deal with are of too - im just normal. a member of the public. and as such i treat people as i would want to be treated.

this whole thing deeply deeply saddens me - it erases all the good works done by police who are not corrupt. - which - i have to say - is the majority. The met may be a law unto themselves - i dont know - but i do what is essentially a thankless job for very little reward other than knowing ive helped someone.

There was a thread a month or 2 back

I said that my trust in police was minimal and every other week there was a story which undermined them
I think you were on it as well maybe

It's NOT a smear campaign

There is TOO MUCH coming out from different sources about different stuff

And has been coming out for YEARS

And, you know, it's not about YOU.

EVERY police officer who behaves less than well probably poisons the service for at least 100 people.

i agree. i have no argument with you. the met have behaved reprehensibly imo. damaged the service for many. it am saddened and upset that this makes people distrust the service that i give - because i am in the job for genuinely the right reasons.

ive been in 4 years. im 42. the more i hear the more i want out.

why the shouting? its not about ME.....yep. i know that.

you are sounding a bit hysterical. i dont think i am. i agree with you though.
(is that allowed??)

It's not just the Met, sadly. one of these officers sexually assaulted victims of sex crimes. His sergeant and inspector covered it up and had appalling attitudes to victims. Although the Met aren't any better, just google Operation Sapphire. And there have been some nasty cases in Scotland where officers have treated victims very badly indeed.

Seems to me police services across the country need to take institutional misogyny just as seriously as they at least pretend to take institutional racism - and do a hell of a lot better on both.

I'm sure there are plenty of decent officers, but there are more than a few bad apples. Something far wider is going on here and needs to be addressed.

This stuff about corruption has been bubbling away since the Macpherson inquiry. David Norris's dad is Clifford Norris a well known criminal and, it seems, an informant.

[http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/aug/06/politics.lawrence here]]

It may not be exactly a government v police stitchup job, but, this and Hillsborough are both very old, so the modern timing is very convenient for a gov point of view. But, if you don't want a slapping, then don't misbehave. So, convenient or not, the police still had it coming.

Stephen's brother has also had to complain to the Met over police harassment after countless stop and search incidents over thew years. The poor man can't even drive anywhere in his car without aggro from cops.

I mean why? Is this payback for having the temerity to campaign, and complain?