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. 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. FITs were first formed in the early 1990s, as part of the Public Order Intelligence Unit (CO11) They initially targeted football fans, hunt saboteurs and political protesters (since at least 1996) In June 2010, the Home Office announced it would review the use of FIT's during public order policing. 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 they are deployed in specific neighbourhoods. Civilian photographers are also employed by the police to work alongside F ITs.