NOT for the first time the reputation of Cleveland Police hangs in the balance.

The decisions that the force make in the coming days will play a big part in whether it can regain the trust and respect of the people it serves.
Does it launch a full inquiry into why it used anti-terror powers unlawfully, or does it bury its head in the sand hoping this unseemly matter simply blows away? The latter course of action would be a huge error judgement, but errors of judgement have sadly become the force’s stock in trade.

The phone snooping case again calls into question the culture at Cleveland Police, as well as its leadership when the anti-terror powers were authorised, and the way it regards its position in the community.

Questions need to be answered about who authorised the use of these powers and why they thought this was an appropriate course of action.

We also deserve to know if these powers have been used to probe into the personal details of anyone else whom the force regarded as a threat to its reputation.

One of the many troubling things to emerge over the last couple of days has been the absence of any meaningful response from Cleveland Police itself. It remained tight-lipped after some of Britain’s most eminent judges ripped apart the feeble defence that was used to explain why surveillance laws, originally set up to combat terrorists and cybercriminals, were used to monitor the phone calls of Echo journalists and former officers.

The people served by Cleveland Police deserve to have a force they can trust. This case has once again undermined that trust. The force needs to stop being so defensive when anyone dares to question its actions. 
The launch of an independent inquiry into the phone snooping case will be an important step in the right direction.