Written guidance for covert monitoring posts
Jermaine Baker Inquiry · Report into the Death of Jermaine Baker · Issued 5 July 2022 · Addressed to: College of Policing
Government responseMetropolitan Police Service: Noted (Oct 2022)National Police Chiefs Council: Noted (Oct 2022)
DeliveryNo statement from College of Policing found
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, 15.12
There should be clear and unequivocal written guidance for the CMP from the TFC as to the key information and intelligence that is being sought.
Jermaine Baker Inquiry, Report into the Death of Jermaine Baker · 5 Jul 2022 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
The Inquiry recommended clear written guidance from tactical commanders to covert monitoring posts. In October 2022, the Metropolitan Police Service reported that an amended Surveillance Manual of Standards addressing the recommendation was in draft under National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) governance following review by the National Covert Monitoring Post Working Group (Metropolitan Police Service response, Oct 2022). Earlier in October 2022, Chris Haward, NPCC Lead for Surveillance, stated that the manual would be updated to require post decision logs to record written guidance from commanders on key intelligence sought (Chris Haward response, Oct 2022). The record holds nothing dated later than the response of October 2022 (Metropolitan Police Service response, Oct 2022).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 2 Oct 2026.
Government response
●Metropolitan Police Service · Noted · 28 Oct 2022
The recommendation that written guidance be provided by the TFC to CMP operatives as to the nature of the operation and intelligence sought has been reviewed by the National CMP Working Group, at which the MPS is represented. An amended Surveillance MoS is now in draft which directly addresses this recommendation under the governance of the NPCC lead.
Response document: Public Inquiry into the Death of Jermaine Baker: Update on Recommendations
●National Police Chiefs Council · Noted · 20 Oct 2022
This recommendation is covered in the MOS which will be updated to reflect the recommendations made in the JBPI Report (shown in purple text) Covert Audio Intrusive Surveillance & Covert Monitoring Posts CMP Manager (Extract) The CMP manager acts as a liaison point for: • Senior Investigating Officer • Intelligence Officer(s) • Tactical Firearms Commander (TFC) - where operationally appointed and is also responsible for: • Maintaining a CMP decision log CMP Decision Log (Extract) The CMP manager will maintain a CMP Decision Log, recording the day-to-day events relating to the management of the CMP, decisions taken within it and will include the time, date, and rationale of any decisions. Where a TFC is operationally appointed, it will also contain clear and unequivocal written guidance from the TFC as to the key information and intelligence that is being sought. To be included in the General Decision Log Entries: • Information and intelligence passed between the CMP Manager and TFC.
Response document: Jermaine Baker Public Inquiry (NPCC Lead for Surveillance response to the Inquiry)
Delivery
No statement on delivery from College of Policing has been found in the sources searched. This is separate from the response above.
How this page is built
The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.