Police cry foul over MCN

Police are refusing to speak to MCN over official comments from a spokesperson published on our website.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has accused MCN of “covert and undisclosed recording of police staff”, even though the staff member in question was a police spokeswoman speaking in an official capacity to a journalist.

An ACPO spokeswoman said on Friday: “I can confirm that a note has been sent from ACPO to all Chief Constables, suggesting their staff refrain from engaging with MCN whilst legal advice is being sought regarding the covert and undisclosed recording of police staff.”

MCN received anonymous tip-offs that virtually every officer in the UK had been instructed not to speak to us after we posted a sound file of the conversation on our website.

During the seven-minute interview, a spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police refuses to answer questions about a speed camera staff member who resigned following a criminal misconduct inquiry.

She also refuses to provide any reason for her failure to co-operate.

According to reports in local newspaper, the inquiry related to the “non-enforcement” of a speeding penalty against a relative of the speed camera staff member.