The Pitters' Place

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015 ... are_btn_tw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

tl;dr: a British environmental activist was in a relationship with a guy for six years. She found out he was an undercover cop. He was sent to infiltrate and spy on activist communities. Now she questions whether he ever loved her and basically can't trust anyone again, or form relationships with anyone.

Purposeful, cold-blooded, years-long, state-sanctioned emotional torture by the police. It happens all the time. Especially in the U.S. Undercover cops spying on and infiltrating activist groups (almost all of them leftist groups). Sometimes they even have children with activists, as was described in another story on the side, and then they disappear. And they're always men exploiting women.

These people, to be obvious, are evil.

Definitely agree. But it makes me wonder if you can make the same observation about any undercover cop activities. A male cop befriends a male mobster and becomes very close to him, etc.

Probably not all undercover cop activities, no.

While I don't think the situation this article depicts is false, i'm sure there are several similar stories around, but there are a few things in this one I find weird. The passport thing, in one paragraph they say his fake passport was taken away when he left the force, then that she found said fake passport in the glove compartement aFTER he left the force. Also that it states on the FAKE passport that he was a father? Do UK passport state children? I have a US passport and a child it doesn't say on my passport that I have a child? Nor do haitian passports.

Not questioning the situations depicted in the story mind you like I said, i'm fairly certain such things happen and they must be horrible for the people involved. I just think this story is badly written.

Islandmur wrote:While I don't think the situation this article depicts is false, i'm sure there are several similar stories around, but there are a few things in this one I find weird. The passport thing, in one paragraph they say his fake passport was taken away when he left the force, then that she found said fake passport in the glove compartement aFTER he left the force. Also that it states on the FAKE passport that he was a father? Do UK passport state children? I have a US passport and a child it doesn't say on my passport that I have a child? Nor do haitian passports.

Not questioning the situations depicted in the story mind you like I said, i'm fairly certain such things happen and they must be horrible for the people involved. I just think this story is badly written.

You used to be able to put your children on your passport and it was only once they got to the age of 12 or 14 (or something like that) that they had to have their own passports. That law changed - I'm not sure when but it must have been some point in the 90s I think.


Whilst I don't disagree that the situation with the woman is not good, unless pretty much all under-cover work is banned this sort of thing is going to crop up. And to be fair I don't have too much a problem with it - I see the benefits out-weighing the potential problems in most circumstances.

The major problem I have with it particular case is why they decided to use under-cover operations at all. The group they were infiltrating weren't a huge organised crime syndicate or plotting any major crimes. They were more like a group that were protesting something that the government didn't want any opposition against so they wanted to find reasons to shut them down. And that's not what I want my taxes spent on.

That's insane.

When's the movie coming out?