The reconfiguration of covert policing in the UK: a quantitative analysis of authorisations since 2000

Scholars have recently pointed to a decline in the use of covert policing tactics over the past 25 years, resulting from risk aversion within police organisations, consolidation of informant handling, professionalisation, and reduced police budgets. Despite the media focus on the ‘spycops’ scandal, research suggests that covert tactics are not only used for political policing but are associated with drugs policing. Drawing on data from regulatory bodies on the authorised use of covert powers by law enforcement agencies, this article provides the first comprehensive quantitative estimate of the use of covert policing tactics in the United Kingdom over the past 25 years. It charts the use of Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) – that is, undercover officers and civilian informants – directed and intrusive surveillance, property interference, targeted interference, and communications data. Analysis suggests that, while there have been approximately 5.9 million published authorisations for covert tactics, we tentatively estimate that there may have been an additional 4 million authorisations not published by commissioners. Using data-driven imputation techniques and repeated masking-validation simulation, our findings suggest a plausible total of approximately 10.1 million authorisations for covert policing tactics since the year 2000, with communication data acquisitions accounting for approximately 95% of these authorisations. Drug offences account for the largest proportion of all covert authorisations, followed by sexual offences and violence against the person. This original research demonstrates that covert tactics continue to be inextricably linked to drug offending, raising questions around who is targeted and the severity of such offending.