NCJ Number
104309
Journal
Criminal Justice Ethics Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer-Fall 1986) Pages: 16-32
Date Published
1986
Length
7 pages
Annotation
S.804, which proposes regulations for Federal undercover operations, errs in not requiring a judicially authorized search warrant for undercover operations based on probable cause and in not excluding undercover operatives from deception in intimate and socially recognized confidential relationships.
Abstract
S.804 would give undercover operatives access to a person's home, private papers, or confidential relationships based only on reasonable suspicion as interpreted by the law enforcement agency. This involves a weaker standard than that which applies to overt police access to these private areas of a person's life. Courts have ruled that when a person voluntarily grants a law enforcement agent access to private domains, search warrant requirements do not apply. In no other area of the law, however, does law enforcement deception to gain evidence qualify as voluntary action by the suspect. Undercover searches, seizures, and surveillance should be held to the same standard as these same police activities conducted overtly. S.804 sets no limits to the level of intimacy or confidentiality that may be assumed by an undercover operative. Because of the extreme privacy accompanying intimate and confidential relationships, a privacy absolutely protected by law, undercover operations should be restricted to social and business relationships with the targeted person. 10 notes.