For years, questions have been asked about the relationship between Freemasonry and police.As recently as 2018, the then-retiring head of the Police Federation, Steve White, said he suspected Lodge members were obstructing reform from within police services.And in the 1980s, a decade when Freemasonry's influence on policing, the judiciary and local government came under intense scrutiny, a high-profile scandal raised the question of Masonic influence on Greater Manchester Police.That was the so-called Stalker Affair - in which John Stalker, a veteran detective who rose to the ranks of Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, was accused of associating with criminals, including members of the city's notorious 'Quality Street.
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