英国特别示威队（SDS）这一运营了40年的卧底警察部门因进行不合理的监视活动而被关闭[1]。警官乔恩·布特彻在接管该部门后的数月内，得出结论认为该单位监视的大多数政治团体不构成公共秩序威胁，更不用说民主威胁，因此决定将其解散[1]。
布特彻在调查中发现该部门存在严重的不当行为[1]。他指出SDS卧底人员对许多脆弱妇女进行了性虐待，造成了难以估量且难以忍受的伤害[1]。此外，他认为该部门提出的所谓成就是粉饰和夸大的，几乎像童话故事[1]。
特别示威队在1968年至至少2010年间共有139名卧底警察参与其中[1]。这些卧底警察通常的部署时间为4年[1]。在解散前的最后阶段，除一名卧底警察外，所有人都拒绝接受进一步培训[1]。
Britain's Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), a covert police unit, was dissolved after an internal investigation concluded it had engaged in unjustified surveillance and serious misconduct.[1] Officer Jon Boutcher, who took over the unit, determined within months that the majority of political groups monitored by the SDS did not pose a threat to public order, let alone democracy, warranting its closure after four decades of operation.[1]
The SDS had deployed 139 undercover officers between 1968 and at least 2010, typically for periods of around four years.[1] Boutcher revealed that officers had committed sexual abuse against numerous vulnerable women, causing harm he described as "incalculable and unbearable."[1] He further characterized the unit's claimed achievements as "varnished and exaggerated, almost like a fairy tale."[1] The dissolution was effectively sealed when all but one of the undercover officers refused to undergo further training.[1]