Britain’s faceless police

Press, 5 November 1983, Page 17

Britain’s faceless police

By

SIMON MARSH

Features International

The hurrying crowds of holidaymakers and jet-setters would not give them a second glance, those men and women who fade into the background at busy airports and ferry terminals, but whose searching gaze misses nothing. They are members of Britain’s “ghost squad” — the Special Branch of the police service — formed just a century ago this month and now key figures in Britain’s security network. Every airport and seaport in the United Kingdom is monitored by the Special Branch, working closely with security and antiespionage services. Within seconds, the description of anyone looking or acting suspiciously will be radioed to a central computer, and from then on the suspect will be under constant surveillance and filmed by hidden infra-red video cameras.

Special Branch officers stay in the shadows. Prosecution in Branch cases is done by uniform officers, and “ghost squad” operators are constantly on the move to avoid being identified. Today, the Special Branch,

estimated at around 1000 strong, concentrates on checking ports and airports, tapping telephones, protecting politicians and other key government figures, and tracking down terrorists. The elite team of men and women work closely with MIS, the government’s security department, and MI6, Britain’s overseas intelligence network. All are trained to use firearms; they prefer discreet 9mm automatics to standard police issue weapons. About half the Special Branch strength is based in buildings scattered around London. The rest work in every major city in the country. The Special Branch was born just 100 years ago as the Special Irish Branch of the C.I.D. It was set up to counter a wave of Republican bombings of British targets, but the word “Irish” was dropped from the title as the squad began to build up an intelligence

network previously unknown in Britain.

Today, they rely on informers, possibly more than any .other police department, backed by sophisticated data resources. The veil over these highly-sensi-tive activities was lifted a little, nearly 10 years ago, when an informer, - Kenneth Lennon, was found shot dead in a Surrey lane. Days before his death, Lennon had poured out his story to the National Council for Civil Liberties, alleging that he had been recruited and paid by the Special Branch to win the confidence of an I.R.A. group and feed back information.

Special Branch candidates, who must have served at least two years in uniform, undergo rigorous physical and mental tests. These are followed by a tough written examination in law, politics, and world affairs.

Confidentiality, above every-

thing, is essential. Even the most casual remark can result in expulsion from a team which prides itself on having the world’s most elite police officers. TV series trying to capture the glamour of Special Branch work have failed miserably. The truth is that most of its operations involve long, often boring, watch-and-wait duties which require a special discipline and alertness.

Even so, Special Branch activities draw critics as well as admirers. An inquiry into their accountability was demanded after the secrets trial of the journalist Mark Hosenball and the deportation of a former C.I.A. man Philip Agee.

In Wales, a Special Branch officer tried to obtain names of night-school students enrolling for a Workers’ Educational Association course on great Marxist writers. Recently, a Midlands housewife complained about two Branch men, pretending to be investigating a bad debt, who quizzed her after she had written to a local papaer about nuclear disarmament. Police later apologised for the incident.