UndercoverResearch Portal

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investigating corporate and police spying on activists


In October 2010, Mark Kennedy was exposed as a police spy who had infiltrated environmental and anti-capitalist groups for the previous seven years. His was the beginning of a series of public exposures; most resulting from investigations by the people targeted, supported by the work of Rob Evans and Paul Lewis at the Guardian. Growing public pressure led to more than a dozen official - and mostly internal - reviews, and eventually to the judge-led Undercover Policing Inquiry into undercover policing which started in 2015 but is not now due to be completed until 2022.'

The Undercover Research Portal provides easy public access to the stories about the various undercover officers who have been exposed and the groups they spied upon. We also look at the police officers and units involved and how they interconnect with some of the big stories around policing in the past few decades. It also includes articles on private spies and the companies they work for. The portal is set up and edited by the Undercover Research Group, we also write the Undercover Research blog dedicated to analyse and comment our work on political policing. Both are overseen by Eveline Lubbers, Peter Salmon and Christopher Brian. We can be reached by email - PGP key available on request.

Both Powerbase and the Undercover Research Group have a policy of strict referencing. Please read the Undercover Research Group disclaimer and the Powerbase general disclaimer.

Background

The undercover operations exposed involve two Special Branch units that focused on protest groups and what would in the 2000s be given the name Domestic Extremism. These were the Special Demonstration Squad, operating since 1968, and the National Public Order Intelligence Unit. The lack of supervision and oversight of their undercover police operations has led to more than a dozen official inquiries, most of which are internal and confidential. Convictions of campaigners have been overturned, and declared unsafe because it had not been disclosed that undercover police officers were at the heart of activities, and it is highly likely that further convictions will be challenged. A number of court cases have been initiated by women tricked into intimate relationships with undercover agents (and in a few cases having children by them. Hearings in Parliament have questioned the more extreme methods employed, such as the use of death certificates of children to provide a false identity for the spies involved; while using Parliamentary Privilege, Green MP Caroline Lucas has accused one spy of being an agent provocateur, committing arson while an activist with the Animal Liberation Front.

Elsewhere another officer, Peter Francis, came forward with details of how the undercover police were used to smear the Stephen Lawrence family. It has become apparent that a culture of abuse grew up around the units involved in covert policing and how that intelligence was used. So much so, that a public inquiry was announced in 2014.

Where to Start?

Follow the links below to learn about the secretive world of undercover policing, the shadowy units and the personalities involved, as well as context for the stories seen in the news.

Undercover Operations in Policing Protest and Dissent


Targets and Background


The Special Branch Files Project

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A related and sister project is The Special Branch Files Project. The Special Branch Files Project is a live-archive of declassified files focussing on the surveillance of political activists and campaigners.

It features detailed articles on campaigns and campaigners that were spied upon:


Forensic analysis of a variety of internal police documents:



What's New on Undercover Research

  1. Vincent Harvey, SDS
  2. Douglas Edwards (alias), SDS
  3. Jim/Jimmy Pickford (alias), SDS
  4. National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC)
  5. Special Branch Registry
  6. National Special Branch Information System
  7. National Common Intelligence Application
  8. Rob Harrison, SDS
  9. James Straven, SDS
  10. Dave Jones (alias), SDS & NPOIU
  11. List of known SDS undercover officers


Undercovers Uncovered

List of confirmed undercover officers in the UK with full or partial profiles


  1. Mark Kennedy AKA Mark Stone, NPOIU
  2. Lynn Watson (alias), NPOIU
  3. Marco Jacobs (alias), NPOIU
  4. Jim Boyling AKA Jim Sutton, SDS
  5. Simon Wellings (alias), SDS
  6. Robert Lambert AKA Bob Robinson, SDS
  7. John Dines AKA John Barker, SDS
  8. Mark Jenner AKA Mark Cassidy, SDS
  9. Carlo Neri (alias), SDS
  10. "RC" (alias), SDS
  11. Gary R. & Abigail L. (aliases), NPOIU
  12. Rod Richardson (alias), SDS
  13. Mike Chitty AKA Mike Blake, SDS
  14. Matt Rayner (alias), SDS
  15. Jason Bishop (alias), SDS
  16. Dave Hagan/N81, SDS
  17. Roger Pearce, SDS
  18. Andy Coles AKA Andy Davey, SDS
  19. Rick Gibson (alias), SDS
  20. Christine Green, SDS
  21. Douglas Edwards (alias), SDS
  22. John Graham (alias), SDS
  23. William Paul 'Bill' Lewis, SDS
  24. Alex Sloan (alias), SDS
  25. John Clinton (alias), SDS
  26. Bob Stubbs (alias), SDS
  27. Dick Epps (alias), SDS
  28. Michael Scott (alias), SDS
  29. Dave Robertson (alias), SDS
  30. HN348 / 'Sandra', SDS
  31. Dave Jones (alias), SDS / NPOIU
  32. James Straven / Kevin Crossland (aliases), SDS
  33. Rob Harrison (alias), SDS
  34. Jim/Jimmy Pickford (alias), SDS
  35. Peter Francis AKA Peter Daley or Pete Black, SDS
  36. Vincent Harvey, SDS


Collaborating with:




References