NCJ Number
108684
Journal
Journal of Social Issues Volume: 43 Issue: 3 Dated: (1987) Pages: 5-41
Date Published
1987
Length
37 pages
Annotation
Police have long used trickery, undercover tactics, and sting operations to beguile suspects into perpetrating crime in the presence of witnesses.
Abstract
Covert facilitation of crime (i.e., the conscious use of deception to encourage criminal acts) by or on behalf of government agents has always been viewed with suspicion, but the recent use of this technique against power elites (Abscam) has resulted in a storm of protest from civil libertarians. It is argued that although there is virtue in the standard libertarian objections, the use of covert facilitation is necessary to ensure that the law is applied effectively against crime in high places. Further, libertarian objections pose the danger of legitimating structural reactive tendencies and discouraging proactiveness on the part of law enforcement agencies. While covert facilitation should be subject to probable cause and other safeguards that would prohibit many such activities currently undertaken by police, enforcement agencies should be placed under a responsibility to use covert facilitation against white-collar offenders, especially in offenses involving abuses by the powerful. This is advocated because of the low visibility of white-collar crime and the need for an egalitarian approach to law enforcement. Suggestions for implementing such a policy are proposed, together with safeguards against unjustifiable interference and abuse. 112 references. (Author abstract modified)