Stephen Lawrence family and friends targeted by police 'smear' campaign

MookJong

MookJong

MookJong

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In light of the NSA and GCHQ revelations, isn't this just one small example of why government institutions cannot be trusted to gather intelligence on the public without using it for their own means.

If you have nothing to hide the government will try and find something for you to fear....

Peter Francis, a former undercover police officer turned whistleblower, said his superiors wanted him to find "dirt" that could be used against members of the Lawrence family, in the period shortly after Lawrence's racist murder in April 1993.

He also said senior officers deliberately chose to withhold his role spying on the Lawrence campaign from Sir William Macpherson, who headed a public inquiry to examine the police investigation into the death.

Francis said he had come under "huge and constant pressure" from superiors to "hunt for disinformation" that might be used to undermine those arguing for a better investigation into the murder. He posed as an anti-racist activist in the mid-1990s in his search for intelligence.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jun/23/stephen-lawrence-undercover-police-smears
 
Still relevant to those who suggest we should have nothing to fear from our authorities, unless you believe our society is vastly different from 20 years past.
 
Not suprised, in the old days of the National Front they weeded out special branch involvement, interestingly enough before they were caught these agents were keen to stir up racial tension and coerce NF members to commit violent acts.
 
I can't believe they are still going on about steven lawrence. He's like a martyred saint of the political correctness religion.
 
[TW]Fox;24504545 said:
That the police behaved disgustingly 20 years ago in the Lawrence case is hardly news is it?
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At least the police have oversight.

Who watches employees at the NSA and GCHQ?
 
Awful dispatches tonight. Police going under cover, using family liaison officers as insiders solely to smear the family to silence their criticism against the police and their handling of the case.
 
Biohazard said:
It is toothless oversight at best.
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No wonder the state wants to snoop in our private lives, calls, internet history, emails and text messages etc.

Just imagine they had the ability to snoop through that in the Stephen Lawrence or Hillsborough cover ups to smear and silence the critics - the truth may never have come out.
 
It's sad the police decided to look for dirt on the family rather than finding the killers - nothing like having priorities.

I thought that's what the Daily Mail was for .......
 
Burnsy2023 said:
Whilst I agree with this, I do believe that the Met has changed a lot since this happened. It's still pretty shocking stuff though.
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Only because they are less likely to get away with it. No profession should be thought of as containing saints.

The police force will have racists, thugs and criminals, just like any other profession with tens of thousands of members. However, when you look at the number of disciplinary actions, it is shockingly low. Just like 20 years ago people will lie and act unethically to cover each others backs.

As someone else has said, the IPCC is toothless, in combatting the lies which attempt to hide serious problems. I believe the police would be held in higher esteem if it was kept clean via a proper process rather than hiding everything because leaders feel it will hurt confidence in the police.

edit: above all, the police force will also contain incompetence, rather than malicious actions i've unfairly focussed on above.
 
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