Product Description

Shocked by the extent of corruption within its ranks, Scotland Yard set up a new anti-corruption unit in the early 1990s. Its members had to operate in conditions of unprecedented secrecy. They became known as the 'Ghost Squad'. Corrupt officers had access to the whole police computer system and anyone working undercover against them had to have a 'cover' that withstood scrutiny. Only now can the story of the 'Ghost Squad' be revealed. Award-winning BBC home affairs correspondent Graeme McLagan has followed the investigations since the beginning. He has interviewed undercover officers and many of the bent coppers they have exposed. This is the inside story of the 'Ghost Squad' and how it broke into the secret world of police corruption. Bent coppers really did believe they were untouchable: they stole cash and property, fitted-up innocent people and sold secret information to cripple court cases. Many of the bent coppers are now in jail or awaiting trial but the battle against corruption is not over. Graeme McLagan's gripping account reveals the ugly underside of London's police force and why teams from America and Australia have now come to Britain to find out how the Met is winning the battle against bent coppers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #453497 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

Review
'Few journalists are better qualified to write on the subject of corruption inside the Metropolitan Police than Graeme McLagan.... Mr McLagan records thefacts of those cases with exemplary care ... it is a very engaging read.' Alasdair Palmer THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH (29/6/03) Graeme McLagan wrote a story on the collapse of the Flying Squad trial in THE GUARDIAN (front page news) which also plugged the book. (28/6/03) Serial ran in THE GUARDIAN on Saturday 7 June, a full page in the news section. A news story on the book, and the formation of the 'ghost squad', ran in THE EVENING STANDARD on Tuesday 8th June. PRIVATE EYE ran a story on BENT COPPERS in its 'Books & Bookmen' section (13 June, 03) Graeme McLagan appeared on THE TODAY PROGRAMME (BBC Radio 4) in discussion with Ian Blair, the Deputy Commissioner of the Met, on Tuesday 8thJune. LBC Radio interviewed Graeme McLagan on Friday 13th June and he is appeared on the ROBERT ELMS show (BBC London Live) on Monday 23rd June. Graham McLagan did a 30 min interview on TALKSPORT Radio on Thursday 3rd July. The SIMON MAYO show (BBC Radio 5 Live) are interested in fixing up a discussion on bent coppers which will also tie-in with the current Coronation Street plot line with Curly & Emma, The Bill and the new series of The Vice.

About the Author
Graeme McLagan specialises in long-term investigations for BBC news and current affairs programmes. He has been the BBC's expert on police corruption for more than twenty years, presenting three Panorama programmes on the subject as well as several major stories for Newsnight. He won the Royal Television Society prize for his scoops while covering the 'Arms for Iraq' scandal and was commended in 1998 for Bent, the second of his Panorama programmes on police corruption. He is the co-author of Mr Evil, the story of David Copeland, the neo-Nazi bomber. Born in London and still living there, Graeme McLagan is married with two grown-up children. The Newcastle Journal was his first newspaper, followed by the Daily Mail in London. He joined the BBC in 1971, becoming Home Affairs reporter and then Special Correspondent.

Customer Reviews

Repetitious
I found a lot of repetition in this book and self promotion of the author and his time on Panorama. Factually very good but the padding lets the book down.

another cover up
This book is a good read....if you are a member of CIB 3....It has been written for them in an attempt to expose innocent policeman to cover their own corruption. For me it was a book written on behalf of the "gods" to save their own necks after they messed up on the macpherson report (stephen lawrence case). It was an attempt to restore public faith ...and 'put off' a public inquiry . The truth, however reveals itself in the shape of The untouchables...a follow up by Michael Gillard who exposes The Ghost Squad at Scotland Yard. What we need now is for the commissioner to call for a public inquiry ...to let our policeman be policeman...and not fear going to work..and ask our judges to look for the evidence...and stop putting convicted criminals back on the streets..............

A former Scotland Yard detectives thoughts...
An interesting read, naming many people known to me, and with whom I have worked.

However, the authors sources at Scotland Yard have been very selective with the information they have furnished him. The book would have been far more interesting had he revealed the seedier side of two of the CIB detectives he refers to - both of whom I know personally and who the average reader of this book will mistakenly view as crusaders. Both, had they been caught, would have 'gripped the rails' at Crown Court prior to their postings to CIB. Nonetheless, these issues can be covered in the sequel to my first book, 'The Filth.'

Further research by the author would have revealed CIB are not the élite squad as suggested, and that prior to the creation of the so-called Ghost Squad, was seen within the Met itself as a dysfunctional posting for has-been police officers, many with no detective experience at all. The reader has the right to be made aware of such facts. I noticed, for example, there is no mention of Detective Superintendent Niccol flying with his bag-carrier at tax payers expense to the Caribbean, to investigate matters relating to an arrested informant, a quantity of drugs and an alleged corrupt detective.....me - information supplied to CIB, ironically, by me! Perhaps such events are more suitable for a book about Metropolitan Police farce.

On a positive side, it was interesting to read about 'DC Larry Hart.' It would be harder to find a straighter, more hard working, detective. Further research by the author would have unearthed this and allowed for the average reader not privy to the internal workings of the Metropolitan Police, to form an honest opinion of the man.