Secret crime squad spied on referendum

POLICE Scotland set up a secret taskforce to tackle referendum-related crime during the last weeks of the SNP's bad-tempered push for independence.

ReferendumPH

Secret crime squad spied on referendum

Codenamed 'Operation Wheeler', it saw a team of specialist officers set up to monitor daily "running logs" of incidents compiled by each of Scotland's 14 policing divisions.

Incredibly, four months after the vote which divided Scottish society and ended in defeat for the Nationalists, the secret taskforce is still in operation to monitor politically-motivated crimes. 

However, Police Scotland said none of the logs had been retained and it was therefore impossible to provide a total number of referendum-related crimes.

The revelation undermines claims about the "peaceful" nature of the independence campaign.

Alex Salmond, in his farewell message to supporters after resigning as First Minister, claimed: "This land has been a hub of peaceful, passionate discussion."

And Brian Docherty, chairman of the Scottish Police Federation, insisted media reports of disorder had been "exaggerated" and said the debate had been "robust and overwhelmingly good natured".

Operation Wheeler was launched without any public announcement on Thursday, July 10 - more than two months ahead of polling day. 

It is very suspicious and I would think that it is a distinct possibility that the police were told to keep this operation secret

George Foulkes

At the time there was growing concern about the darkening tone of the independence debate, with both sides warning about vile online abuse and threats.

The existence of the specialist team, along with the worrying fact that no paperwork has been retained, was revealed following a Freedom of Information request.

As the highly-charged vote on September 18 grew closer, Operation Wheeler was on high alert for "patterns or emerging trends" in the flood of crime reports. 

The team would also complete a daily "threat assessment" which was used by senior officers to "inform national strategic planning".

In its response, the force said: "Divisions were required to flag all referendum related crimes and incidents to Operation Wheeler on a daily basis. 

"These logs were designed to allow dynamic risk assessments and decisions to be taken by senior officers and as such were only of relevance for a relatively short length of time.

"The use of running logs enabled to Divisions to fulfil this requirement and there was no need to retain these separate logs after the information had been assessed in 'live time' and appropriate actions directed and completed."

The response added: "In short there is no way to automatically identify and export crimes linked to the Referendum."

To further complicate matters, the force also insisted there was some crimes may not have been motivated by political rivalry. 

It said: "An example would be vandalism to a vehicle displaying a campaign sticker. While it might be presumed that the crime could be as a result of the sticker, police cannot confirm that this was the case."

The only "significant disorder" reported during the campaign was the violent confrontation between No and Yes supporters in Glasgow's George Square on September 19.

However, the force added: "In general though, reports included but were not limited to thefts, vandalisms, assaults and personation (individuals attending at a voting station to find their vote had already been used by another)."

The revelation has sparked an angry response from opposition politicians who suggested Police Scotland may have kept the operation under wraps on the instruction of ministers.

Labour peer George Foulkes said: "We knew at the time that there was a lot of intimidation towards people who were indicating that they were going to vote No. Any denial of that was completely untrue and now this has proved it was completely untrue.

"I think it also underlines the worries that some of us had about having a national police force. Because, clearly, it is working more and more hand in glove with the Scottish Government.

"A lot of people have been concerned that having a single force would result in things like this happening where the interests of the current Government are put ahead of the public."

He added: "It is very suspicious and I would think that it is a distinct possibility that the police were told to keep this operation secret."

Last night, a force spokesman said: "Operation Wheeler is still an ongoing operation as we continue with enquiries into the very small amount of referendum related crime."

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