NCJ Number
100758
Journal
Criminal Justice Quarterly Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1985) Pages: 27-38
Date Published
1985
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the merits of undercover work as a law enforcement technique, traces the evolution and expanding role of undercover activity, and reviews the body of law relevant to undercover operations.
Abstract
Undercover operations are essential for detecting and obtaining evidence of covert criminal dealings that do not directly involve complaining victims. Drug trafficking and the bribery of public officials are examples of criminal activity that can be countered only by aggressive and sophisticated undercover operations. Undercover work has evolved from the use of confidential informants to the development of elaborate scenarios such as ''Abscam.' Undercover activities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and local police agencies were promoted by Federal grants administered by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. Since 1976, the FBI's development and expansion of undercover work has included the creation of opportunities for the commission of crimes. Such operations have raised the issue of entrapment. As defined in New Jersey law, the entrapment defense requires the defendant to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the police created a substantial risk that the average person would commit the crime and caused the particular defendant to do so. 124 footnotes.