Humberside Police Irish "Blacklist" (article)

mike65

From indo -

THE British police force criticised for its part in the Ian Huntley case kept a secret list of all Irish people in its area, regardless of whether they were suspected of breaking the law.

Humberside police, under attack for destroying the file on Huntley containing allegations of repeated sex attacks, nevertheless ordered officers to record details of every Irish person they dealt with.

Names and other personal details were fed into a database compiled by Special Branch officers. Even English people of Irish descent were put on the list.

The revelation provoked furious criticism of the Humberside force last night and calls for the database to be destroyed.

There were demands that a Home Office investigation, instigated to establish how Huntley slipped through police vetting checks, should be widened to examine why innocent people with Irish surnames were targeted by the Humberside force.

The disclosure of the secret database will increase the pressure on David Westwood, Humberside's beleaguered chief constable, to resign.

Dr Westwood is already fighting for his professional future after a junior Home Office minister dismissed his attempts to blame the failures of his force over Huntley on data protection legislation.

The database of Irish residents on Humberside was compiled during a campaign codenamed Operation Pre-Empt. It was prompted by Special Branch concerns that the two major ports within the force area could become entry points for republican terrorists.

Words nearly fail me....the above is a re-write
of a better piece in the (London) Times.

Mike.

simu

Another example of police not having a clue.

Capt'n Midnight

Glad to see all the leasons that were learned from the West Midlands have been applied ..

gurramok

Is it racist though ?

What if there was a database of all blacks\asians\any minority people ?

daveydub

Hmm while its shocking to read of Irish people being 'blacklisted'... is it only shocking to us because we're Irish? I like to think that these 'security' decisions are taken for all our benefit and while some people believe that 'profiling' is not politically correct we have to accept that certain groups of people are more of a risk then others...

mike65

I like to think that these 'security' decisions are taken for all our benefit and while some people believe that 'profiling' is not politically correct we have to accept that certain groups of people are more of a risk then others...

I'd have bought into that argument to some degree if it were 1973/1983/1993 but in 2003 it cant be stood over, there is no threat from Irish terrorists in Britain. Actions by security forces vis-a-vis targeting have to be specific not general.

Mike.

Sparks

Funny that we're shocked and horrified that english people are keeping track of where irish people in england are, in the same week that we ourselves pass a law allowing us to put biometric data on the identity papers of immigrants ourselves.

Cabaal

Look on ther bright side, Every country in the world hates English football fans
Least the Irish are liked in more countries then England,

Oh no the English don't like the Irish.
Whatever shall we do?
The world is ending.....
:rolleyes:

daveydub

I think you would be naive to suggest that there is no threat of Irish terrorism in Britain, if Special Branch the intelligence wing of the British police, believe that details should be kept about Irish nationals.. then they believe there is a possible threat. And while the Provisional IRA has a ceasefire in the so called 'war', there are other renegade republican factions who don't.

DeVore

Yeah cos you know what those Irish are like...

DeV.

simu

I think you would be naive to suggest that there is no threat of Irish terrorism in Britain, if Special Branch the intelligence wing of the British police, believe that details should be kept about Irish nationals.. then they believe there is a possible threat. And while the Provisional IRA has a ceasefire in the so called 'war', there are other renegade republican factions who don't.

To me this suggests that these policing and intelligence services have very little knowledge of what is actually happening in Northern Ireland. Unless the Irish people on the database were actually involved with the police due to being involved in terrorist or terrorist-related activities, putting them on this database and keeping it up to date was a complete waste of time and resources. The chances of a random Irish person being involved with a terrorist organisation are way too slim to justify all this.

Hobbes

Originally posted by DeVore
Yeah cos you know what those Irish are like...

DeV.

I always thought the Irish were ok until watching EastEnders 'Irish' episode.. now I know like everyone else that Irish are all wife beating drunks and thieves.

Maybe Dr Westwood can get a job at the BBC?

daveydub

Simu, I don't think that Humberside police are concerned with what is happeing in Northern Ireland... Their responsibility is for Humberside and so they kept a database of their dealings with Irish people in the Humberside area. Yeah a waste of resources perhaps but it aint my money they're wasting!

Victor

I not sure if the title is strictly correct, but you get the idea. Soham is 120 miles from Humberside.

http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/2201019?view=Eircomnet

Fury over Soham police's secret Irish database
From:The Irish Independent
Saturday, 20th December, 2003
Ian Cobain and Dominic Kennedy

THE British police force criticised for its part in the Ian Huntley case kept a secret list of all Irish people in its area, regardless of whether they were suspected of breaking the law.

Humberside police, under attack for destroying the file on Huntley containing allegations of repeated sex attacks, nevertheless ordered officers to record details of every Irish person they dealt with.

Originally posted by daveydub
Hmm while its shocking to read of Irish people being 'blacklisted'... is it only shocking to us because we're Irish? I like to think that these 'security' decisions are taken for all our benefit and while some people believe that 'profiling' is not politically correct we have to accept that certain groups of people are more of a risk then others...

However, Humberside were keeping such a vast database, that they were even including **everyone** stopped in routine questioning, traffic checkpoints, etc.

It's like the guys who stopped me in Dover, while carrying an invitation to meet the queen. I could meet the queen, but not travel through Dover unhassled.