 = Forward Intelligence Team = 
 
 Forward Intelligence Teams ( FITs ) are two or more police officers who are deployed by UK police forces to gather intelligence on the ground and in some circumstances , to disrupt activists and deter anti @-@ social behaviour . They use cameras , camcorders and audio recorders to conduct overt surveillance of the public . An unsuccessful legal challenge has been made against their use of overt surveillance , but in 2009 the Court of Appeal ruled that they must justify retention of photographs on a case @-@ by @-@ case basis . Any retained information is recorded on the Crimint database . 
 Political activists have criticised FITs and said that they feel the aim of FIT deployment during protests is to prevent legal protests . Journalists have also complained that FITs attempt to stop them photographing protests and that they conduct surveillance of journalists . A campaign group , Fitwatch , formed in 2007 that aim to obstruct FITs and conduct sousveillance on the officers . Two members of the group were arrested at the 2008 Climate Camp on obstruction charges . A similar police surveillance unit , the Video Intelligence Unit is operated by Greater Manchester Police . In June 2010 , the Home Office announced it would review the use of FITs during public order policing . 
 
 = = History and Purpose = = 
 
 FITs were first formed in the early 1990s , as part of the Public Order Intelligence Unit ( CO11 ) , a section of the Public Order Branch of the Metropolitan Police . They initially targeted football fans , hunt saboteurs and political protesters ( since at least 1996 ) , using cameras , camcorders and audio recorders to conduct overt surveillance of the public . The police officers wear full uniform , and are intended to be a highly visible presence . Their uniform is sometimes different from normal police officers in that the upper half of their yellow fluorescent jackets is blue . Civilian photographers are also employed by the police to work alongside FITs . According to Scotland Yard , the aim of FIT teams at protests is to record evidence of protesters in case disorder occurs later on at a protest . 
 More recently the teams ' purpose has been extended to routine police work on low @-@ level crime and anti @-@ social behaviour and police forces throughout the UK now have their own FITs . Despite the implication in their name that their function is to merely gather intelligence , they are also intended to have a deterrent effect . This approach has been reported to work in reducing reports of anti @-@ social behaviour at times when FITs are deployed in specific neighbourhoods . Jacqui Smith , then Home Secretary praised Operation Leopard that used FITs to target youths , in Laindon , Essex stating : 
 " Operation Leopard is exactly the sort of intensive policing that can bring persistent offenders to their senses ... Relentless filming of them and their associates throughout the day and night " 
 Linda Catt , an activist , has suggested that their tactics are " designed to intimidate people and prevent lawful dissent " . This view is echoed by a police debriefing of their operations at the 2008 Camp for Climate Action which praised FITs at the event for disrupting activists . 
 In June 2010 , the Home Office announced it would review the use of FITs during public order policing . The move was influenced by the discovery that information collected by FITs , included that which was unrelated to suspected crimes , for example recording who made speeches at demonstrations . 
 In October 2010 , FIT officers in plain clothes were spotted by a press photographer at a protest against companies avoiding tax , despite Commander Bob Broadhurst telling a parliamentary committee in May 2009 , that only uniformed officers distinguishable by their blue and yellow jackets were involved in gathering intelligence at protests . The Metropolitan Police told The Guardian that it was necessary to deploy plain @-@ clothed officers to " gather information to provide us with a relevant and up @-@ to @-@ date intelligence picture of what to expect " . It was the first time that FITs are known to have been deployed in plain clothes . 
 
 = = Legal issues = = 
 
 Liberty brought a judicial review of the overt surveillance practices in May 2008 , which was decided in favour of the police , however the police were asked to clarify their evidence to the Court of Appeal , following an investigation by The Guardian newspaper . 
 In May 2009 , the Court of Appeal ruled that photographs collected by FITs of people who have not committed a criminal offence can no longer be kept . The ruling was made after Andrew Wood , an arms trade activist , was photographed after challenging the management of Reed Elsevier at their AGM over them organising arms trade exhibitions . Wood argued that police had harassed him and infringed his right to privacy by photographing him . Lord Collins of Mapesbury said that the police presence had a " chilling effect " on people who were protesting lawfully . FITs have not been banned but they must now justify the retention of photographs on a case @-@ by @-@ case basis . As a result of the ruling the Metropolitan Police 's public order unit , CO11 was forced to delete 40 % of the photos of protesters that it held . 
 In a report about the policing of the 2009 G @-@ 20 London summit protests , Denis O 'Connor , the chief inspector of constabulary , stated that the routine use of FITs at protests " raises fundamental privacy issues and should be reviewed " . He also said that there was " confusion " over the role of FITs and advised that the Home Office should issue guidance over the legality of the surveillance of protesters and the retention of images . 
 
 = = Information processing = = 
 
 The information that FITs collect is stored on the Crimint database , which is used daily by police officers to catalogue criminal intelligence . People are listed by name allowing police to determine which events individuals have attended . Photographs obtained by FITs are used to produce " spotter cards " consisting of people 's photographs which allows officers to identify people at future events that they attend . For £ 10 , people are able to obtain a list of protests that they have attended from the data held on Crimint under laws in the Data Protection Act 1998 . 
 
 = = Academic response = = 
 
 A 2006 report , The Economics of Mass Surveillance calculated that the use of FITs at mass gatherings involves gathering intelligence on roughly 1 @,@ 200 people to record the actions of one person . The report also noted that most of the people on " spotter cards " , used by the police photographers , were those involved in the organisation of protests and that FITs also attend meetings where demonstrations are organised . 
 
 = = Criticism = = 
 
 Fitwatch ( formed in early 2007 ) campaign against FITs by actively obstructing their operations , and by passively opposing their operations by photographing units ( a form of sousveillance ) . 
 In June 2009 , The Guardian released video evidence recorded by a FIT at the 2008 Climate Camp of alleged police brutality against two female members of Fitwatch . The women had asked police officers to reveal their shoulder numbers , as at least four officers had not displayed them . The women attempted to photograph the police officers for evidence , but were forced to the ground , restrained with handcuffs , and had their legs bound with straps . They were then placed in restraint positions , arrested , charged and held in custody for four days , including three days in HMP Bronzefield , before they were released on bail . The police later retracted all the charges against the women . The women lodged a complaint with the IPCC over the incident . The journalist George Monbiot commented on this case , saying that " the police are turning activism into a crime " and that " the FITs ' methods appear to have been lifted from a Stasi training manual " . He claimed that " anybody who is politically active is filmed , identified , monitored , logged , and cross @-@ checked " . A police debrief into the operation at Kingsnorth praised the deployment of FITs saying that they were " highly effective and gained good intelligence and disruption " . 
 Three members of Fitwatch were convicted for obstructing FIT officers in June 2008 as they attempted to photograph those attending a No Borders meeting in London . In July 2010 the Inner London Crown Court overturned the men 's convictions , with the judge stating that the protesters ' human rights may have been violated by the FIT officers . 
 On 15 November 2010 , the hosts of the Fitwatch blog were asked by the Police National E @-@ Crime Unit to take down the website due to it " being used to undertake criminal activities " . The request came after a post on the blog after the 2010 student protest in London , which advised students of actions they should take if they were concerned that they were photographed at the demonstration , such as cutting their hair and disposing of clothing they were wearing . Emily Apple , one of the founders of the site told The Guardian , " Nothing in that post [ giving guidance to student protesters ] has not been said before on our blog or on other sites " . On 17 November 2010 , the Fitwatch website returned , hosted on a web server outside of the UK . 
 The National Union of Journalists ( NUJ ) has criticised FITs for their surveillance and sometimes violent harassment of working journalists . Marc Vallee , who was hospitalised by police after documenting a protest , has said that the teams limit freedom of the press and called on the Home Office to confirm that the police had no right to restrict the work of photojournalists . Bob Broadhurst , who is in charge of public order policing at the Metropolitan Police , said in a statement to the NUJ in 2008 that journalists , " on the production of a valid form of accreditation will be able to continue with their work " . The NUJ are to make a formal complaint to the Information Commissioner due to the Metropolitan Police failing to provide details on the surveillance of journalists under the Freedom of Information Act . Bob Broadhurst told photographers at an NUJ conference that he had no faith in the National Press Card ( a form of press pass ) despite journalists needing to prove that they are bona @-@ fide newsgatherers to an independent authority before they are issued . 
 The BBC TV series Panorama produced an episode entitled What ever happened to people power ? in July 2009 which discussed the use of FITs in targeting activists and journalists . 
 
 = = Similar police units = = 
 
 Greater Manchester Police operate a Video Intelligence Unit , whose plainclothes officers confront and video certain freed prisoners as they leave prison after serving their sentences . They also record footage of people involved in anti @-@ social behaviour on the streets . The aim is to give other police officers up to date information on the appearance of people who have broken the law . Video footage thus collected is constantly replayed on TV screens in rooms where officers complete their paperwork . Footage that they have recorded has also been uploaded onto YouTube in an attempt to catch people they believe have reoffended . This has resulted in several offenders being sent back to prison after breaching licence conditions . Since the unit was launched in 2006 more than 900 people have been filmed by the unit . Not all of these people are suspects in crime however , people can be filmed if they are thought to associate with prolific offenders or if they have been stopped in an area of high crime under suspicious circumstances . Kieran Walsh , a civil liberties lawyer , said the unit 's work " could have implications " for the force under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights - the right to privacy . He believes that filming must be a " proportionate and reasonable " response to a crime and that this does not appear to be the case as people are being targeted over what they might do in the future . It is uncertain as to how long data collected by the unit is to be kept but GMP currently anticipate it will be stored for 5 years . 
 
 