NCJ Number
92410
Date Published
1982
Length
26 pages
Annotation
After describing the practice of police undercover work, this essay discusses what courts and commentators have said about its legal parameters and proposes restrictions on police undercover work.
Abstract
Police undercover work involves the use of deception by a police agent that may result in the obtaining of information and evidence used to build a criminal case against those targeted by the undercover activity. The courts do not require a warrant before the police initiate an undercover assignment, nor is the obtaining of incriminating information and evidence of a crime considered a violation of privacy rights or search and seizure laws. Although the warrant process prevents overt police search-and-seizure operations without a warrant based on reasonable suspicion that a crime has been or is being committed (except under specified circumstances), no such warrant is required if the police gain access to a person's property and personal habits through deceptive means. If police undercover work is to be consistent with other mandates of the law bearing upon rights to privacy and self-incrimination, then certain restrictions should be imposed on undercover investigations. There should be no undercover investigation of any one person by any one agency for more than 24 hours without a court-approved warrant. Further, while undercover operations may involve business as well as cordial social relationships, they should not include intimate personal relationships. Finally, any evidence gained directly or indirectly in violation of the two aforementioned restrictions should not be admissible in any criminal proceeding.