Who'd try to smear Stephen Lawrence's family? A Met that's out of control | Simon Jenkins

All police forces have two cultures. One is of genuine service. The other is a murkier world of secret operations and militias

The Met is out of control. The revelation that it sought to smear the Lawrence family in the hunt for Stephen Lawrence's killers – perhaps to stifle racist aspersions on its detectives – beggars belief. Less surprising is that the operation was unknown to the then police chief, Sir Paul Condon, to the home secretary and to the Macpherson inquiry. It is merely further e...