§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if, following the Countryman inquiry, a permanent anti-corruption squad has been set up.
§ Mr. HurdNo. Operation Countryman, which began in 1978, was a police investigation under section 49 of the Police Act 1964 to inquire into specific allegations of corruption against menbers of the City of London and Metropolitan police forces. Although many serious allegations were made against London police officers and a number of officers were prosecuted or disciplined, the inquiries did not reveal evidence of widespread or 217W systematic corruption and there has been no evidence to suggest a need for a permanent specialist squad of anticorruption investigators.
Each police force has within it a centralised complaints and discipline department to conduct inquiries into allegations of all kinds including corruption. Chief officers may request that officers from another force be provided where necessary to ensure a properly independent investigation. A major new independent element in the supervision of complaint investigations will be provided by the police complaints authority, to be set up under the Police and Criminal Evidence Bill now before Parliament.