Police: Undercover Officers Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateLord Faulks
Main Page: Lord Faulks (Non-affiliated - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Faulks's debates with the Department for International Development
(6 years, 5 months ago)
Lords ChamberThe noble Baroness makes a very helpful point, because the policing Code of Ethics makes it clear that police officers should not use their professional position to,
“establish or pursue an improper sexual or emotional relationship with a person with whom you come into contact in the course of your work”.
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 provides the legal framework for the lawful deployment of undercover officers as covert human intelligence sources. We also have the 2014 CHIS codes of practice.
In relation to the length of time that the inquiry has taken, the slight extension to that is purely due to the sheer number of pieces of information it has to look at.
My Lords, I understand that the walkout from the inquiry was because of a sense that it was important that the individual police officers were identified by name. Will the Minister confirm that, by definition, undercover police officers have a cover name, and that, whatever the importance of getting to the bottom of what went on in this inquiry, it is important that they retain anonymity, because that is a pre-eminent part of what they do?
My noble friend is absolutely right—of course, it protects the safety of those people as well.