Former Met police chief admits surveillance of Stephen Lawrence’s family was institutionally racist

Former Met police chief admits surveillance: Wanderstayfinder.com – “`html Former Met Police Chief Admits Institutional Racism in Lawrence Family

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Former Met Police Chief Admits Institutional Racism in Lawrence Family Surveillance

The former Met police chief admits that undercover surveillance of Stephen Lawrence’s family was institutionally racist, according to testimony given at the ongoing spycops inquiry. Paul Condon, who led the Metropolitan police during the 1990s, acknowledged that covert officers monitored the Lawrence family as they campaigned for a thorough investigation into their son’s racist murder in 1993. Officers documented details including the separation of Doreen and Neville Lawrence, reporting these developments to their superiors.

Condon’s Admission of Systemic Failures

During his evidence on Tuesday, the former Met police chief admits that the covert monitoring of the Lawrences and their campaign “meets very well the parameters of institutional racism.” This failure to properly investigate the 1993 murder represented one of the most significant challenges during his tenure and severely damaged the reputation of Britain’s largest police force. Condon also addressed broader concerns about the special demonstration squad (SDS), acknowledging that the Met had failed for decades to adequately control the unit despite “horrendous” abuses committed by its officers.

The former Met police chief admits he was appalled by the wrongdoing within the SDS, which conducted surveillance operations for 40 years targeting tens of thousands of political activists. While acknowledging that “rogue officers who’ve done some bad things” existed, Condon emphasized that the primary responsibility lay with the Met’s systemic failure to supervise the unit rigorously. He noted that undercover officers were instructed daily to “lie, cheat and deceive as a way of life,” but stressed that the Met should have recognized that covert work “can be corrupting” without proper ethical frameworks.

Historical Context and Apologies

Condon, who later became a member of the House of Lords, stands as the highest-ranked officer to testify before the public inquiry led by retired judge Sir John Mitting. The inquiry was established following The Guardian’s revelations about SDS surveillance of the Lawrences and their supporters during the 1990s. Mitting is currently examining extensive misconduct by undercover officers, including monitoring grieving parents, deceiving women into long-term relationships, fathering children, stealing identities of deceased children, and lying in court proceedings.

The SDS officers operated under false identities to infiltrate primarily leftwing groups between 1968 and 2008, with deployments typically lasting four years. At the beginning of his testimony, the former Met police chief admits he wanted to “personally apologise for every single person who has been damaged by the actions of officers in the special demonstration squad over the decades.” He expressed being “appalled by so much of what I have learned throughout this inquiry” and offered sincere apologies to everyone affected.

Condon acknowledged that “horrendous things that went wrong” occurred within the SDS, citing “appalling behaviour by individual officers.” However, he maintained that the greater fault rested with the Metropolitan police as an institution over multiple decades. The former Met police chief admits that officers were told daily to lie, cheat, and deceive as part of their duties, and that without limits and ethical guidance, this work could become corrupting even for those with strong moral principles.

Despite his admissions, Condon clarified that he knew nothing of the abuses while commanding the Met between 1993 and 2000. He described it as “unrealistic” to expect that, as the head of the Met, he would have been aware of day-to-day operations within a small, secretive unit. The former Met police chief admits he “never at any time commissioned, encouraged, authorised, acquiesced or was aware of any” surveillance carried out on the Lawrences and their supporters.

When asked by inquiry chief lawyer David Barr whether the surveillance represented “an expression” of institutional racism, Condon replied: “Yes.”

The Macpherson inquiry into Lawrence’s killing concluded in 1999 that institutional racism within the Met contributed to allowing his murderers to escape justice. Police leaders subsequently accepted these findings and claimed to have reformed the service sufficiently that institutional racism no longer applied.

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