NCJ Number
100392
Journal
American Behavioral Scientist Volume: 27 Issue: 4 Dated: (March-April 1984) Pages: 529-544
Date Published
1984
Length
16 pages
Annotation
The legitimacy and morality of police lying is, like force, an unstable means of social control.
Abstract
Of the traditional means of police social control -- authority, power, persuasion, and force -- force is the least preferable because it is often painful and ignores the human attributes and will of those it is used against. It is therefore the most unstable form of social control. It is generally conceded that the lie is somewhat more preferable than force, and it is this concession that forms the basis for the legitimation of police lying: where the police enjoy a legitimate right to use force, they acquire a moral right to substitute lying to achieve the same ends. However, like force, lying is ever in danger of discovery, abusive of the will of the person lied to, and likely to provoke a hostile reaction. It, too, is therefore an unstable form of social control. Further, because of its seductive appeal, there is the possibility that those who become skillful at lying will use that skill casually and irresponsibly. 1 note and 17 references.