The Metropolitan Police's Special Demonstration Squad specialised in undercover operations
Relatives
of 42 dead children whose identities were assumed by undercover police
officers will not be told that it happened, a report has confirmed.
The Metropolitan Police offered a general apology for the "shock and offence" the practice had caused. But Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said revealing the identities used would endanger the officers concerned.
The report, led by Derbyshire Chief Constable Mick Creedon, follows claims about use of the tactics in the 1980s.
Earlier this year, the Guardian reported that undercover police stole the identities of about 80 children who had died at an early age.
Sir Bernard said 14 families had contacted the Met to ask whether the identities of their relatives had been used by undercover officers.
The Met had apologised to them, and to another family that had heard separately that it might be affected by the revelations, he said.
"Undercover officers are brave men and women" and maintaining their anonymity is "vital", Sir Bernard said,
He explained: "There are criminals behind bars and at large today who would have no qualms in doing serious harm if they discovered a former close confidant had been working for the police.
"That's why undercover officers spent so much time building up their 'legend' or false identity, and why that identity must be protected for ever."
The report confirmed that 42 dead children's identities were used by the Metropolitan Police's Special Demonstration Squad and the National Public Order Intelligence Unit, which the Met has overseen since January 2011.
But it also found it "highly possible" that the practice was used more widely.
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