Met Censorship Slammed by Dee Doocey

1.18.00pm GMT Fri 6th Nov 2009

The censoring of photos by the Metropolitan Police has been criticised today by Dee Doocey, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly policing spokesperson and member of the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Dee was responding to reports that the Met has ordered its staff and external suppliers to cull any photos showing uniformed police officers failing to wear identification numbers.

"The Met is indulging in a cover-up when it should have taken action years ago," she said.

"Investigations of this year's G20 demonstrations revealed that senior officers believed it was not necessary to discipline officers who were not wearing their numerals, and that a slap on the wrist would suffice. Yet this is five years after the Countryside Alliance demonstration, when the Met was instructed that officers must always be identified, following the failure of many police officers to wear their numbers.

"Now we learn that the Met's Director of Public Affairs is involved in a cover-up. It is a disgrace.

"The Met's lame excuse for failing to take action is that its uniform committee has no money. If the Met ditched the chauffeurs and limousines for senior officers, it would save £2 million in a year at a stroke.

"It's time the Met embroidered numbers on uniforms, not embroidered the truth."

Ends

Notes to editors:

The Independent Police Complaints Commission highlighted the failure of police officers to not wear identification numbers in its report into the policing of the Countryside Alliance demonstrations outside of Parliament on the 15th September 2004:

www.ipcc.gov.uk/index/resources/evidence_reports/investigation_reports.htm