Operation Elter oversees the police’s own investigation into the activities of the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU). It is conducted under the auspices of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) which funds it. As a result of Operation Elter overseeing the NPOIU material, officers who served with or were otherwise connected with that unit are usually given nominals starting with E, e.g. EN34 'Lynn Watson'.
It was founded in 2016 as an offshoot of Operation Herne, the Metropolitan Police’s investigation into the Special Demonstration Squad. Herne’s then head, Chief Constable Mick Creedon, had briefed the NPCC that there were emerging issues within the NPOIU. This led to a scoping review into issues that the NPOIU faced, which justified the founding of a standalone operation equivalent to Herne.
Elter then took on the role of coordinating the response of the NPCC and the various regional forces whose officers were seconded to the NPOIU in relation to the Undercover Policing Inquiry.
In 2017, its role was described as:
conducting criminal and misconduct investigations, researching miscarriages of justice, and detailing the history of the NPOIU.
It produced profiles on NPOIU undercovers and managers to assist those conducting risk assessments in relation to those officers.It was also revealed that it had gathered around 40-50 million files relating to the NPOIU, which it was uploading to a database ahead of sharing that with the UCPI.
In May 2017 Andy Cooke, Chief Constable of Merseyside took over as NPCC lead officer on the retirement of Creedon.