BLAST! Another sordid Jersey Police OPERATION.

So - all of a sudden our elected States Members woke up to the realities of a Police State today. Even Sarah Ferguson seemed concerned! (for her own interests of course) In fact there wasn't much concern for the general public and the files that the Jersey Police keep on US! At least it's a start. All sorts of rumours and conspiracy theories are circulating of course and the Strathclyde Tendancy will no doubt carry the can but it just goes to show. You can't trust modern coppers, or is there good reason for monitoring some of our elected "representatives"? Our own "Dixon of St Martin" (Deputy Bob Hill) is briefly interviewed (below) but there are major issues yet to be explored....... Below the video is the official statement about "OPERATION BLAST" given to the States this morning by Home Affairs Minister, Senator Ian Le Marquand.
STATEMENT TO BE MADE BY THE MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS ON TUESDAY 16th JUNE 2009 OPERATION BLAST It is my duty to inform this Assembly that on 2nd June 2009 I received a formal written report from the Acting Chief Officer of Police which confirmed to me the details of Operation Blast. I was first informed of the general details in relation to Operation Blast by a letter from the Solicitor General dated 30th April, 2009, and requested further information prior to making any decision in relation thereto. I am able to reveal the following information - 1) In February 2006 the States of Jersey Police set up files under the name of Operation Blast which contained sections on every elected member of the States of Jersey, that is on every Senator, Connétable and Deputy. These files do not appear to relate to any actual police investigation. 2) Each section on an individual member contained a photograph and other generally available information on the member. It also contained a full criminal record search on each member. Some of the sections contained other information on a member from a variety of different sources including local police intelligence and national police intelligence and sheets detailing the checks that had been carried out in respect of each individual. The existence and general contents of the files have been independently confirmed to me by the Solicitor General acting upon my request. 3) The files were kept securely within the Special Branch office. Between February 2006 and November 2008 the files were updated from time to time. The files were not retained under standard arrangements for the retention of intelligence data. Indeed, there are papers within the files which would suggest that efforts have been made to ensure that this information was maintained outside the normal protocols for the management of information. Various members of the Police Senior Management were aware of the existence of the files and directed certain information to be retained therein. The existence of the files was known only to a very small number of officers and does not appear to have been disseminated further. 4) I am not aware of the motivation for the setting up and retention of these files but am very seriously concerned about their existence. 5) No new sections were set up after the October/November 2008 elections and no information was added to the files after November 2008. Existing or former members of the States who are concerned by the contents of this statement may wish to contact the Acting Chief Officer of Police, Mr. David Warcup, who has agreed to meet individually with them, should they so wish, in order to discuss the contents of their section of the files. However, I must inform members that Mr. Warcup will not be able to reveal to them any items which cannot be properly disclosed outside of the Police intelligence community. I will of course answer questions which members may have but the answers which I can give will be limited because of possible police disciplinary issues which may arise from this discovery.

Submitted by Thomas Wellard.