Forward intelligence team

An unsuccessful legal challenge has been made against their use of overt surveillance, but in 2009 the Court of Appeal ruled that they must justify retention of photographs on a case-by-case basis.

They initially targeted football fans, hunt saboteurs and political protesters (since at least 1996),[3] using cameras, camcorders and audio recorders to conduct overt surveillance of the public.

Relentless filming of them and their associates throughout the day and night"Linda Catt, an activist, has suggested that their tactics are "designed to intimidate people and prevent lawful dissent".

[11] This view is echoed by a police debriefing of their operations at the 2008 Camp for Climate Action which praised FITs at the event for disrupting activists.

The move was influenced by the discovery that information collected by FITs, included that which was unrelated to suspected crimes, for example recording who made speeches at demonstrations.

The Metropolitan Police told The Guardian that it was necessary to deploy plain-clothed officers to "gather information to provide us with a relevant and up-to-date intelligence picture of what to expect".

[20] As a result of the ruling the Metropolitan Police's public order unit, CO11 was forced to delete 40% of the photos of protesters that it held.

He also said that there was "confusion" over the role of FITs and advised that the Home Office should issue guidance over the legality of the surveillance of protesters and the retention of images.

[26] In June 2009,The Guardian released video evidence recorded by a FIT at the 2008 Climate Camp of alleged police brutality against two female members of Fitwatch.

The women attempted to photograph the police officers for evidence, but were forced to the ground, restrained with handcuffs, and had their legs bound with straps.

[27] The journalist George Monbiot commented on this case, saying that "the police are turning activism into a crime" and that "the FITs' methods appear to have been lifted from a Stasi training manual".

[29] A police debrief into the operation at Kingsnorth praised the deployment of FITs saying that they were "highly effective and gained good intelligence and disruption".

[30] Three members of Fitwatch were convicted for obstructing FIT officers in June 2008 as they attempted to photograph those attending a No Borders meeting in London.

In July 2010 the Inner London Crown Court overturned the men's convictions, with the judge stating that the protesters' human rights may have been violated by the FIT officers.

[6] On 15 November 2010, the hosts of the Fitwatch blog were asked by the Police National E-Crime Unit to take down the website due to it "being used to undertake criminal activities".

Two uniformed FIT police officers standing on the street, one has a camera with a large lens and then other has a small camcorder
Forward Intelligence Team outside the US embassy , London
Two FIT officers one has a camera and has his back turned the other is observing
A Forward Intelligence Team officer
Three protesters dressed as clowns posing with a FIT photographer. Other officers are stood around smiling
A FIT photographer and protesters at the Camp for Climate Action , Heathrow 2007
A piece of paper with 24 photographs of people saying "for police eyes only" and that it should be destroyed after the event
A "spotter card" used by FITs at protests and political meetings. This was dropped by a police officer at the DSEi arms fair in 2005 and later published by The Guardian . [ 22 ]