Deputy Chief Constable Chris Todd said: “We have today, Thursday 6th June published a detailed report on the Police Service use of covert investigative powers in relation to journalists and lawyers. This report was shared with the Northern Ireland Policing Board last week and discussed at today’s accountability meeting.
“This report has been published to provide reassurance to the public and stakeholders about our use of surveillance powers. It is part of our response to concerns about media coverage of reports of inappropriate use of covert powers against journalists and lawyers.
“The concern has been that there was widespread, and unjustified, surveillance of journalists and lawyers. Without pre-judging the outcome of the independent McCullough review announced by the Chief Constable earlier this week, it is important to reiterate that we believe this concern is misplaced.”
This report is available on our website. Read it here https://www.psni.police.uk/about-us/our-publications/covert-powers-report