Presumed Guilty (cont.)

Concluding the search for “Special Notice 11-02”, the Metropolitan Police Service’s never-before-seen document overturning the presumption of innocence

Earlier this month, I blogged about my enquiry to the UK’s Metropolitan Police Service requesting a copy of “Special Notice 11-02,” an official police document issued in 2002 which – according to this controversial Feb. 10 Guardian article by police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe – said that police officers should “accept allegations made by the victim in the first instance as being truthful.”

Today I received a copy of “Special Notice 11-02” from the Met’s Information Rights Unit. As far as I’m aware, this is the first time the document has been made available to a member of the public, thus answering a couple of previously unanswered questions recently asked by blogger Anna Racoon (you can read her thorough post on the subject by clicking here).

First of all, the document does indeed appear to reverse the presumption of innocence for suspected sex offenders (however, the wording is slightly different to that used by Hogan-Howe in the Guardian). Here’s what it says:

Second, the document appears to have been authored – or at least approved – by the Assistant Commissioner of Territorial Policing.

In ‘02, this position was held by Michael J. Todd QPM (deceased), who was appointed chief constable of the Manchester Police Service later that year.

There is still no explanation as to why “Special Notice 11-02” remained hidden for 14 years. That may prove to be a question worth asking. Stay tuned.

Click here to read a copy of “Special Notice 11-02.”