A former policeman is suing his police force after the creation of a secret database storing surveillance information of its ethnic minority officers. The policeman, Mark Dias, former Human Resources Manager of Cleveland Police who left the force in 2006 as part of its accelerated performance scheme. He claims he was forced out as an acting inspector in 2000 after challenging alleged misconduct by fellow officers.
It has been revealed that former members of Cleveland police’s anti-corruption unit have made allegations of the existence of a database codenamed, Calcutta. According to lawyers representing officers of Asian descent, including Dias, “there was a general suspicion all ethnic monitory officers in Cleveland police were corrupt”. According to the lawyers summary files were transferred onto a hard drive which was accessible to only the anti-corruption unit in 2005.
Cleveland in their statement confirmed they were assessing claims made “about police operations which are alleged to have been disproportionately focused on black and minority ethnic officers.”
