24 November 2020 — Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (COPS)

The public was largely shut out – only given official access to a live stream in a room in London, online it was limited to a live transcript which was a real eye strain to read for hours on end. Once again, it fell to those abused by spycops to being the truth to the public.

COPS live-tweeted every hearing, and we posted a report on our website every evening. Our friends at Police Spies Out of Lives, who represent women deceived into relationships by spycops, hosted a live read-a-long of the Inquiry transcript on their Youtube channel, with actors including Maxine Peake reading the words of the spycops giving evidence.

We heard the testimony of one of the first female spycops, deployed into a tiny feminist group for two years. She received 90% of a male officer’s pay, as was standard at the time, in order to spy on women campaigning for equal pay!

Blacklisted trade unionist Dave Smith gave a barnstorming statement, laying out the history and detail of state involvement in blacklisting. Dave did not shy away from naming names and pointing the finger at spycops who tried to fit trade unionists up with false charges.

We also caught the Inquiry out, covering up the criminal activity that a spycop had actually admitted to – sometimes it’s as if the Inquiry is more on the police’s side than the police themselves.

You can find details in our roundup of last week at the Inquiry:

http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/2020/11/22/ucpi-weekly-report-3-16-19-november-2020/

Our website also has daily reports if you’d like more information on anything that’s covered, and they’re all linked from the Inquiry page on our site:

http://campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com/ucpi-public-inquiry/

The Inquiry has now finished hearings until next year. It is expected to resume in the spring, examining the Special Demonstration Squad 1973-82. Hearings covering 1983-92 are expected in the first half of 2022, and 1993-2007 hearings are expected in the first half of 2023. It means it is likely to be at least 2024 before they get to the other main spycops unit, the National Public Order Intelligence Unit, which deployed the likes of notorious spycop Mark Kennedy.

Beyond the Inquiry, there’s an excellent new podcast series, Bed of Lies, that speaks to women who were deceived into relationships by spycops. Their stories are horrifying and, for all the differences in times and characters, startlingly similar in outline.

A loving partner vanishes, and the search leads them to discover that not only is there no trace of him ever existing, but also to find other women in the same position, who have realised that their partner was in fact an on-duty police officer for every moment of the years they shared. Bed of Lies is out now on most major podcast platforms.

We’ve also started a COPS Instagram account, sharing images and videos about the spycops scandal and the campaign for the truth.
https://www.instagram.com/copscampaign/

If you’d like a speaker address a meeting of any group or organisation you’re in, we’ll be happy to oblige. Email speakers@campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com to arrange it with us.

Thank you for your continued support.

Copyright © 2020 Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (COPS), All rights reserved.