Met Police shut down undercover unit after inquiry finds unjustified spying

The Metropolitan Police shut down its undercover Special Demonstration Squad after a public inquiry concluded it conducted unjustified surveillance on political activists. Jon Boutcher, the senior officer who oversaw the unit’s closure, told the inquiry the SDS had become a liability, targeting groups that posed no threat while failing to address real security risks.

Boutcher, who was a detective chief superintendent in Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism division at the time, said most of the groups infiltrated by the SDS, including pro-Palestinian supporters, environmental organisations and the Socialist Workers Party, did not endanger public safety. He contrasted this with the unit’s near-total absence from terrorist investigations, despite rising threats from international extremism.

Abuse and resistance to reform

The inquiry heard evidence of systemic misconduct within the SDS. Officers routinely formed intimate relationships with women they were spying on without disclosing their true identities. Boutcher described this as the sexual abuse of vulnerable women, causing incalculable harm. The unit also collected intrusive details about protesters’ personal lives, including friendships and living arrangements.

Boutcher said the SDS should never have targeted grieving families, such as the relatives of Jean Charles de Menezes, the innocent man shot dead by police on the Tube in 2005. The unit’s operations, which spanned from 1968 to at least 2010, involved 139 undercover officers who assumed false identities for deployments typically lasting four years.

Financial mismanagement and closure

Boutcher said the SDS resisted oversight and reform. When he took charge, he found the unit was poorly trained, with all but one officer refusing further training. He also raised concerns about financial mismanagement, including excessive overtime claims. When cuts were proposed, many officers threatened to resign.

The unit’s intelligence output was minimal. Boutcher asked for a list of its successes over the previous five years but found the claims exaggerated. He described the unit’s justifications for its existence as akin to fairytales. Initially, he considered redirecting the SDS toward counter-terrorism but concluded it was too insular and resistant to change.

With the agreement of senior Met officials, Boutcher disbanded the SDS in 2026. He called the decision groundbreaking, given the unit had operated for over four decades. The inquiry continues to examine the conduct of the 139 undercover officers who infiltrated political groups during the unit’s existence.

What happens next

The public inquiry into undercover policing is ongoing. It will continue to review the actions of the SDS and another covert unit, with further hearings expected later this year. The Met Police has not announced any plans to reinstate a similar unit. Boutcher’s findings have already prompted calls for tighter oversight of covert operations in London.