The Christian Police Association is calling for moral and ethical training, after a compensation pay-out by the Met over an undercover operation.
The Metropolitan Police is expected to pay £425,000 to a woman who had a baby with a man she didn’t know was an undercover police officer.
The woman, known only as Jacqui, met Bob Lambert in the 1980s and gave birth to their son in 1985, but only discovered his true identity in 2012.
Scotland Yard says the force “unreservedly apologises for any pain and suffering that the relationship had on this woman”.
Although this is the first settlement by the Met of its kind, there are other women who claim to have suffered emotional trauma, after discovering that previous relationships were with undercover officers.
The Executive Director of Christian Police Association, Don Axcell, told Premier’s News Hour the situation is a difficult one and not morally ‘clear-cut’.
He said: “Officers who do go undercover are under extreme stress, in case they are found out and violence is exhibited towards them. That is a danger they take on willingly.
“And so if you are in the middle of building a relationship and sexual encounter offers itself, the officer then has to balance: ‘Do I engage in that? Or if I refuse that, would it jeopardise the whole operation?'”
He argued that more could be done to improve the moral and ethical guidance and training given to police officers:
“Anyone involved in this sort of work needs to have a strong moral compass.
“Whether it’s done with a religious background or not, officers need to know where they get their standards from and be encouraged to uphold them.”
Source and Original Content by Premier Radio News