Review of the National Public Order Intelligence Unit
Part of: Large-scale policing Police ethics and accountability Specific reviews
In 2010, information about the activities of Mark Kennedy, a police officer working undercover for the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), led to the collapse of the trial of six people accused of planning to shut down a large power station in Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Nottinghamshire. This resulted in us announcing a review of the systems used by the NPOIU to authorise and control the development of intelligence. The final report of this review was published in February 2012 and made recommendations for the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Metropolitan Police Service, and the Office of Surveillance Commissioners (OSC).
2012 – Review of the national police units which provide intelligence on criminality associated with protest
Our 2012 review of the use of undercover officers by the NPOIU found that, as well as being more risky, NPOIU operations were not as well controlled as those of other units which deploy undercover officers on serious criminality, especially in the case of Mark Kennedy. The report made recommendations to improve the control of undercover officers deployed to tackle criminality associated with public order and domestic extremism.
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2013 – A review of progress made against the recommendations in HMIC’s 2012 report on the national police units which provide intelligence on criminality associated with protest
In April 2013, we conducted a review of the progress made against the recommendations in the 2012 report. This report sets out the findings from this review and commits HMIC to a wider review of the deployment of undercover officers in the UK.
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Note: Since the fieldwork for this review was completed, Damian Green, Minister for Policing, announced proposals for new secondary legislation for undercover policing operations at the Home Affairs Select Committee on 18 June. The proposed legislation states that the Office of Surveillance Commissioners will be notified at the start of all undercover police deployments – and must approve any lasting beyond 12 months. The new legislation will also ensure the same long-term operations must be authorised internally at chief constable or equivalent level.
External Reference Group
We published details of the External Reference Group, whose role was to challenge the review’s terms of reference (PDF document), the final report and the conclusions reached, and reassure the public of the comprehensive nature of the review.
More information on the interested parties event held as part of the review
Please note: In July 2017 HMIC took on responsibility for fire & rescue service inspections and was renamed HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). Inspections carried out before July 2017 may continue to refer to HMIC.