(Times) Staff say Stockwell Tube shooting was caught on camera

[evermind]

Staff say Stockwell Tube shooting was caught on camera

By Daniel McGrory and Stewart Tendler
Dead man’s family accuse police over riddle of CCTV tapes which officers said were blank

STAFF at Stockwell Underground station have protested at police suggestions that closed-circuit television cameras were not working when an innocent man was killed by police hunting potential suicide bombers.

<snip>

Scotland Yard declined to answer questions, saying that the matter was in the hands of the IPCC. The first officers on the scene after Mr de Menezes was shot took away all CCTV tapes but allegedly found them blank. Station staff decided to break the confidentiality of what they told the IPCC because they fear they are being blamed for failing to maintain the cameras.

The IPCC has already protested that the police have compromised their investigation by taking away vital evidence, including the tapes, in the first hours of the incident when Sir Ian wanted to block the IPCC from handling the inquiry. Members of the de Menezes family have accused police of evidence tampering.

<snip>

The CCTV system is maintained by Tube Lines, the private sector consortium that is in charge of maintaining the Northern Line. It is understood to have confirmed that the cameras were working that morning. It is not known if staff in the control room saw the shooting unfold on their screens.

(...continues...)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-20749-1746975-20749,00.html

[Taxloss]

1. Yes, this is the really stinky part of the investigation.

What happened to the tapes? There was stuff on them when they were given to the police; they were blank when they were handed back. What happened?

[evermind]

2. Well, just blanking the tapes would be a criminal offence in itself

(I presume it would count as "obstruction of justice" or perhaps there's a more specific law...) so it looks like

a) what they showed must be really really damning (enough to commit a crime to avoid it being viewed)

and/or

b) the blanking was officially sanctioned, so the blanker knew no serious penalties would follow from their action

b) doesn't exclude a), of course.

[Taxloss]

3. The entire thing reeks of panic to me.

Absolute, total, administrative panic.

In far more trivial circumstances, I was once part of the editorial board of a publication that looked like it might be destroyed by a court case. We dodged that bullet - operating entirely within the letter and the spirit of the law - but I found it was astonishing how quickly decent people countenanced turning a civil case into a criminal one by destroying evidence. They were prepared to just burn the files and let the devil take the hindmost.

The overwhelming impression I get from the De Menezes killing and from its bungled cover-up is one of bureaucratic chaos - too many agencies involved, tangled chains of command, conflicting protocols, the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. And I think that street-level officers knew that as well, so I wouldn't be surprised if they wiped the tapes thinking that that crime - obstruction of justice - would be lost in the mix. You have to remember that the tapes were wiped before the heat was really on.

This is why Ian Blair must resign - it's not that he endorsed this policy, it's that he hasn't got a clue what confused and self-directing elements within his force are doing.