Police files reveal 'endemic corruption' at the Met
100-250 corrupt Scotland Yard 'Untouchables'
http://www.911forum.org.uk/board/viewtopic.php?p=167807#167807
Documents show how organised crime networks were able to
infiltrate the force 'at will'
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-files-reveal-endemic-corruption-at-the-met-9644667.html
Tom Harper - INVESTIGATIONS REPORTER -
Sunday 03 August 2014
Scotland Yard holds an astonishing 260 crates of documents on police
corruption in one corner of London alone – and very few of the rogue
detectives have ever been successfully prosecuted.
A review led by one of Britain's most senior police officers has
unearthed a mammoth amount of intelligence spawned by Operation Tiberius,
a secret police report written in 2002 that concluded there was
"endemic corruption" inside the Metropolitan Police.
The file found organised crime networks in north-east London were able to
infiltrate the Met "at will" to frustrate the criminal justice
system.
The huge number of crates, revealed in a letter by Craig Mackey, the
Met's deputy commissioner, indicates the scale of criminality inside
Scotland Yard's north-east London units, which appears to have gone
almost unchallenged since Tiberius was compiled 12 years ago.
Research suggests that only a tiny number of the scores of then-serving
and former police officers named as corrupt by Tiberius have been
convicted.
In a letter to Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, Mr
Mackey warned that the mountain of evidence against his officers is
likely to continue growing. He said: "This number [of crates] is
likely to expand as linked operations are identified."
Following a series of scandals surrounding the Stephen Lawrence and
Daniel Morgan murders, the news will renew fears that the Met remains
unwilling to confront corruption in its ranks.
Daniel Morgan
In correspondence published quietly on the parliamentary website,
it emerged that Scotland Yard had handed only six heavily redacted pages
of Operation Tiberius to the committee, following a request from MPs for
the controversial report. Its full length extends to about 170
pages.
None of the sheets released to the committee mentioned the "endemic
corruption" inside Scotland Yard – or any of the shocking details of
how organised crime syndicates bribed scores of former and then-serving
detectives in order to access confidential databases; obtain live
intelligence on criminal investigations; provide specialist knowledge of
surveillance, technical deployment and undercover techniques to help to
evade prosecution; and take part in criminal acts such as mass drug
importation and money laundering.
In his letter, Mr Mackey said: "In my view, the release of the
documents held for … Operation Tiberius at this time would not be in the
public interest."
Mr Vaz said: "I am deeply concerned by the sheer amount of evidence
relating to corruption in the Met. While I understand the need for
sensitivity regarding current investigations, I find the amount of
redaction in the reports sent to the committee baffling.
"London's police force are seen as the gold standard for the rest of
the UK. It is vital that we understand the full facts in order to root
out corruption in the police. I look forward to receiving the information
on the numbers of officers who have been convicted in relation to these
operations, as promised by Mr Mackey."
The police chief also revealed that the Met's discredited 2012 review of
the Stephen Lawrence murder had "input" from the Scotland Yard
press office prior to publication, but was "ultimately endorsed as
suitable for public release" by the former head of the
anti-corruption command, deputy assistant commissioner Patricia
Gallan.
Stephen Lawrence
In March, a major review of the Lawrence case concluded that
Scotland Yard had provided "misleading reassurance" over police
malpractice in the Lawrence inquiry and found the 2012 Met report to be
"ill judged".
The memo detailed that intelligence was inexplicably shredded by the Met
in 2001, including evidence that officers stole and trafficked illegal
drugs, shared rewards with informants, faked applications for more
payouts, sold confidential information to criminals and accepted bribes
to destroy and fabricate evidence.
However, the Met was criticised earlier this year when it emerged that
the review, written by Detective Superintendent David Hurley, had not
made it clear that it could not find the intelligence as it had been
destroyed – triggering amazement from a senior police officer who had
presided over the original £8m investigation, codenamed Operation
Othona.
In a statement released following Mr Mackey's appearance in front of MPs,
Scotland Yard said: "In hindsight, the MPS accepts Mark Ellison's
view that this report was produced in too tight a timescale, which was
unrealistic and ill judged, leading to the view that the MPS was
attempting to provide false reassurance to the Lawrence
family."
Fear not therefore: for there is nothing covered that shall not be
revealed; and nothing hid that shall not be made known. What I tell you
in darkness, that speak ye in the light and what ye hear in the ear, that
preach ye upon the housetops. Matthew 10:26-27