Over three decades, numerous women in the UK were deceived by undercover police officers, with nearly 20% of spies entering intimate relationships while surveilling them. Four officers allegedly fathered children during these deceptions. One woman discovered her partner’s true identity, Bob Lambert, over 20 years after their son’s birth. An ITV series exposes the “spy cops” scandal, following five women’s journeys to uncover their partners’ secrets. Victimized women have faced trauma and distrust. An inquiry revealed a culture of sexism in the police, leading to formal apologies from police chiefs, acknowledging systemic failures and exploitation rooted in these operations lasting from 1968 to 2010.
For three decades, numerous women in the UK were systematically misled by undercover police officers, with nearly a fifth of all police spies entering into intimate relationships with the women they were tasked to surveil. Four of these officers either fathered or were said to have fathered children with women they met while using false identities to infiltrate political movements, the Guardian reported. One woman’s life took a drastic turn when she accidentally discovered that her son’s father, Bob Lambert, was an undercover police officer—more than 20 years after her son was born. Lambert had left them when the child was still an infant, deceiving Jacqui by claiming he needed to flee abroad to escape arrest.
Several women developed long-term intimate relationships with undercover police officers, completely unaware that these men were secretly surveilling them and their social networks. These relationships persisted for up to six years, during which the women unknowingly shared their personal lives with the officers.
Over 50 women have been recognized as victims of this deception, although the actual number is believed to be much higher. The revelation of the officers’ true identities has left these women deeply traumatized, struggling to regain trust in others and to form meaningful relationships.
A new ITV series, created in partnership with The Guardian, is now bringing attention to the “spy cops” scandal, highlighting the alarming extent of the deception. The series, which debuted on Thursday, follows the journeys of five women on a mission to uncover the truth about their former partners, who abruptly vanished from their lives under false pretenses. Through meticulous investigation, combing through archives, and even traveling overseas, these women were able to reveal the identities of the men as covert police officers.
David Barr, the chief barrister of the inquiry, stated clearly that sexual deception by undercover officers was unjustifiable. The women’s unwavering campaigning and legal efforts have led to police chiefs issuing apologies and admitting that the exploitative relationships were reflective of a “wider culture of sexism and misogyny” within the police force. Furthermore, the police acknowledged that their managers, who were also part of this dysfunctional culture, failed to prevent the abuse, underscoring a systemic failure to protect these women from such harmful actions.
For over 40 years, from 1968 to 2010, undercover police operations commonly employed deceptive relationships as a tactic. These relationships, originating in the 1970s, were an intentional aspect of the police’s clandestine activities. Of the 25 known undercover officers, only two were women, indicating a predominantly male-driven approach to deceiving and manipulating women. Additionally, the identities of many police spies remain classified, leaving an undetermined number of women potentially unaware that they were misled into intimate relationships with undercover agents.