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Police discredited over secret plan to spy on UK Muslims

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Oct 1, IRNA -- A secret UK police counter-terrorism operation to place Muslim communities under permanent surveillance was implemented with virtually no consultation, oversight or regard for the law, a damning internal report has found.

The installation of more than 200 CCTV cameras in two areas of Birmingham, central England, was temporarily suspended in June after local councillors revealed police had misled residents into believing they were to be used to combat vehicle crime and antisocial behaviour.

A report by the chief constable of Thames Valley police, Sara Thornton, confirmed on Friday that the counter-terrorism unit of the local West Midlands police devised a 'storyline' that concealed the true purpose of the secret £3 million ‘Project Champion.’

Counter-terrorism insignia was removed from paperwork as part of a deliberate strategy to 'market' the surveillance operation as a local policing scheme to improve community safety, the report found.

Top police officers were also criticised for failing to ask questions about the operation's 'proportionality, legitimacy, authority, necessity, and the ethical values inherent in the proposed course of action'.

Thornton also warned that attempts by police to conceal the true purpose of the project caused 'significant damage to community relations' in the West Midlands, with one community leader quoted saying the project had 'set relations back a decade'.

In response to the report, West Midlands chief constable, Chris Simms has apologised and said that he fully accepted Thornton's findings, but made no mention of any resignations or disciplinary actions over the project.

'I am sorry that we got such an important issue so wrong and that it has had such a negative impact on our communities,” Thornton said in a statement.

Local councillors in Birmingham have been demanding that the controversial project to track the movement of Muslims to be scrapped and not just be put on temporary hold to allow public consultations.

Salma Yacoob, councillor for Birmingham Sparkbrook, one of the wards where the cameras are due to be used, said it was “not enough” that West Midlands Police were trying to reassure the communities after being forced to admit there had been no consultations.

“The cameras have to be removed. It was a huge betrayal of trust by the police. They thought they would get away it without consulting the public,” Yacoob told The Muslim News in June.

The outcry follows the disclose that the scheme, which includes 40 cameras concealed in walls and trees, caused heated exchanges and a lot of anger from residents about why Muslims were being targeted at constituency meetings.

The surveillance of the movement of Muslims, including with Automatic Number Plate Reading (ANPR) capability, is believed to be the first of its kind in Britain and raised fears that it was intended as a pilot scheme for other installations.