Not many people know this, but the Association of Chief Police Officers is spending £9 million per year of taxpayers' cash on tracking "domestic extremists", which is their label for people who "seek to prevent something from happening or to change legislation or domestic policy, but attempt to do so outside of the normal democratic process". That's the ACPO definition of 'democratic', of course.

Who'd have thought we had our own Secret Police units? The Association of Chief Police Officers runs 3 secret police organizations for the purpose of keeping tabs on the nation's "domestic extremists":  • The National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU) runs a central database which collects reports from police forces in England and Wales about people who attend protests, rallies and public meetings.  • The National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit (NETCU) advises private companies on how to manage political campaigns and collects intelligence information on their opponents from them, and  • The National Domestic Extremism Team (NDET) stores intelligence information gathered by investigations into protesters anywhere in England & Wales. Vehicles used by protesters are tracked using the national system of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras. Such vehicles are subjected to regular harassment stops for no reason which is evident to the owner. When challenged, the police officers making the harassment stop are allowed to lie about the reason for the stop. Members of the public do not have to commit a crime to attract the attention of the NPOIU – all they have to do is attend perfectly legal public meetings, take an interest in planning decisions in favour of New Labour clients or government projects or otherwise attempt to hold the state machine to account. Their records are stored side-by-side with those of people who take part in protests and demonstrations ranging from 'peaceful' direct action and civil disobedience to violent public disorder. Images of NPOIU's "domestic extremists" are collected on "spotter cards", which are handed out to the police officers attending demonstrations and events which the police deem likely to attract domestic extremists. These cards have a "Burn before reading" status to prevent them from falling into the hands of the general public. All 3 secret police units are untroubled by such minor considerations as statutory accountability. Their original brief was to deal with dangerously violent animal rights extremists, but they now concentrate on anyone and any group opposed to government policy or the activities of the government's client companies.    Those who challenge the government's Global Warming Swindles, and those who think the government isn't wasting enough money on climate-control scams (like airport extension and power station protesters), are equal targets for the secret police units. ACPO will not disclose exactly how many names are stored in the NPOIU databank, but admits there are files and photographs for tens of thousands of people. Useful Information The Data Protection Act gives you the right to obtain a copy of any information that the police hold about you. You need to make an application to the police in order to see a copy of your criminal record, and this application is called a subject access request.   A subject access request has to be made in writing, and you have to contact your local police force. You will need proof of your identity, and they can charge you up to £10 for the service.   They do not have to release the information if they believe that it could be likely to ‘prejudice the prevention or detection of crime’ in a particular case. They may also edit the copy of your record that they give you, to delete any reference to another person. #