A report from the Joint Select Committee on Human Rights has criticised the misuse of the law against demonstrators. Jenny Jones is raising related concerns with the London Mayor about police surveillance techniques and use of information ahead of the G20 demonstrations in London on April 1st. A series of written questions to the mayor ask the Metropolitan Police to guarantee that they are not recording and storing private information about people who are not suspected of committing any offence.
"The Metropolitan Police are wasting too much of their time treating innocent people as if they were criminals. The heavy handed policing of the demonstration at Kingsnorth power station was both pointless and unacceptable. It is a scandal that Metropolitan Police officers were taken away from their safer neighbourhood duties to be used in an exercise in intimidation."
ENDS
1) Jenny Jones asked a series of questions in December where the Metropolitan Police admitted that they had no idea of how many of the 80,000 people they enter on the national DNA database every year, had actually been convicted of a crime, or had subsequently died. The European Court of Human rights’ ruled that the holding of the DNA samples of two men arrested but not charged or convicted of any crime breaks human rights law.
Police surveillance (1)
Question No: 548 / 2009
Jenny Jones
Can you guarantee that the Metropolitan Police Service does not record and store private information about individuals who attend protests or demonstrations but who are not suspected of committing an offence?
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Police surveillance (2)
Question No: 549 / 2009
Jenny Jones
If the Metropolitan Police Service does record and store private information about individuals who attend protests or demonstrations but who are not suspected of committing an offence, what is this information used for and how long is it retained?
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Police surveillance (3)
Question No: 550 / 2009
Jenny Jones
Has the Metropolitan Police Service ever a) recorded and b) stored private information about journalists who report on protests and/or demonstrations?
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Police surveillance (4)
Question No: 551 / 2009
Jenny Jones
If the Metropolitan Police Service does record and/or store private information about journalists who report on protests or demonstrations, what is this information used for and how long is it retained?
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Police surveillance (5)
Question No: 552 / 2009
Jenny Jones
Does Crimint, the general database used by the police service to catalogue criminal intelligence, include private details of any individuals who are not suspected of an offence?