County forces act jointly to make it easier to bug suspects' computers and phones and carry out covert investigations

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

Britain's police forces are forming regional surveillance units with the power to carry out covert and intrusive investigations.

Detectives believe the groups will make it easier for the authorities to bug computers, break into properties and interfere with wireless internet networks as part of countersurveillance operations, according to documents seen by the Guardian.

Until recently, covert investigations were carried out by individual forces in co-operation with the Serious Organised Crime Agency, which is being disbanded.

The disclosures have concerned civil liberties campaigners who fear that it will lead to an increase in covert operations. They want to know how the new regional police groups will be controlled and monitored.

Documents obtained by the Guardian reveal that earlier this month five forces – Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire – formed the East Midlands Technical Surveillance Unit (Emtsu) after a series of internal consultations that took place behind closed doors in March.

Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Waterfield of Nottinghamshire police wrote in an internal paper that the new £2m-a-year organisation would improve access to hi-tech surveillance as well as the planting of bugs.

"Emtsu (pdf) will provide Nottinghamshire with a 'one-stop shop' approach to covert forensics, covert hi-tech crime and specialist support unit, which will include covert entry into premises, covert search and the deployment of intrusive surveillance methods," he said.

The contract between the five East Midlands forces contains a clause that prohibits each force from taking steps to publicise the existence of the unit or its investigations without express consent of each party.

It also prevents internal reports about the formation of the units being published on their websites under the Local Government Act on the grounds that they relate to the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime.

There are believed to be at least seven other regional organisations, according to police sources.

One, calling itself the South East Covert Operations Unit (Secou), was formed by Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Thames Valley police authorities last year.

The use of covert surveillance by police has been a key weapon in fighting organised crime and terrorism, according to police.

One former Metropolitan police specialist believes the development will make it easier and cheaper for the authorities to conduct countersurveillance operations including "covert forensics" – a method of hi-tech spying involving installing keyloggers on suspects' computers to record what they type.

Jonathan Krause, an ex-member of Scotland Yard's hi-tech crime unit, said he had heard of police surveillance officers disguised as plumbers entering suspects' homes to bug computers.

"They can sit outside the house in a van and they'll be looking at the wireless networks and the wireless traffic," he said. "Which is not that difficult to do technically, breaking in to wireless networks and seeing the traffic going back and forth."

Krause, who now works as the managing director of computer company Forensic Control, explained that forms of "live" covert surveillance on computers are on the rise due to an increase in users storing their data online – known as "cloud computing".

As a result, he said, it is now more common for authorities to deploy "covert forensics" by installing software that monitors what is being typed on a suspect's computer, with a record automatically sent to police by email without the suspect's knowledge.

Covert surveillance is currently regulated under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa), with the power to conduct clandestine investigations granted internally by senior officers within each respective police force.

In a speech given to human rights group Liberty in February, Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said he favoured introducing an "additional element of judicial oversight in keeping with our traditions of accountability" in order to "secure the confidence of right-thinking people".

The terms under which Ripa can be used to justify covert surveillance are broad, and include in the interests of public safety, national security and economic wellbeing of the UK.

In 2010 there were more than 21,000 authorisations of covert surveillance by law enforcement agencies across the UK, according to the latest figures produced by the Office of Surveillance Commissioners.

Such tactics are primarily used to detect serious organised crime. But police have also used the powers afforded to them under Ripa to unlawfully target political activists, placing undercover officers at the heart of protest groups to gather intelligence.

Daniel Hamilton, director of pressure group Big Brother Watch, expressed concern over "expansion by stealth" of the police's ability to conduct invasive surveillance, and called for a review of the police's Ripa powers. "While covert operations play an important role in solving criminal investigations, these operations should be the exception, not the norm," he said. "Expanding the use of wiretaps and the monitoring of internet connections risks dragging scores of innocent people into police investigations they should rightly play no part in.

"The government has pledged to limit the ease by which local councils can utilise Ripa powers. A similar review of police Ripa powers should take place."A spokesman for the East Midlands police collaboration programme said: "Due to the sensitive operational nature of the work that the unit will undertake, we have not sought to proactively publicise its establishment.

"However, details of the proposal have been discussed in police authority meetings, which are open to the public, and in media interviews."

A spokesman for the South East Covert Operations Unit said that the forces concerned had been open about the formation of the new group – in press releases and documents published online – which would save money for taxpayers.

"There is strong and clear governance of the unit and it is already successful in helping to tackle serious regional criminality," he said.