In his first major interview since taking office, Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), acknowledged public disquiet over the way his units are gathering data on thousands of activists and said the scheme "can go tomorrow", although he said some form of monitoring of protesters would need to continue, with independent regulation.
Senior police officers from all 44 forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will meet to discuss his proposals tomorrow. The discussions could result in Acpo becoming a statutory body, and could mean parts of the organisation, such as those responsible for monitoring so-called "domestic extremists", are sponsored by the Home Office and ultimately answerable to parliament.
Denis O'Connor, the chief inspector of constabulary, is expected to call for major reform of Acpo's domestic extremism units in a major report into the policing of protest later this month. His inspectors believe Acpo has fallen victim to mission creep, taking on "quasi-operational" national policing functions that lack proper accountability.
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Declaring that "change is what I do", Orde told the Guardian he plans to transform Acpo, which has functioned as private members' club for top ranking officers for almost a century.
He said he would open parts of the organisation to government regulation and, in a significant move, would look to make his organisation a public body.
