NCJ Number
108687
Journal
Journal of Social Issues Volume: 43 Issue: 3 Dated: (1987) Pages: 61-69
Date Published
1987
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the 1987 article on covert facilitation by Braithwaite et al, in which they argue that such strategies are necessary to detect low visibility white-collar crime, especially by the powerful, and to ensure an egalitarian administration of justice.
Abstract
Braithwaite et al propose the use of such proactive strategies as planting informers and using undercover operatives to entice susceptible elite citizens into crime. Moral considerations, aside, such strategies are unlikely to succeed on sociological principles. For the police to launch a truly aggressive policy of undercover activity against high-status targets represents a major departure from their past behavior and is a significant deviation from the usual operation of law in all societies. In addition, several of the safeguards Braithwaite et al propose (e.g., probable cause) are also at odds with the realities of the legal system. If actual experience is any indication, attempts to control the police through guidelines, formal punishments, or an entrapment defense are unlikely to protect citizens from the types of abuses of police authority that Braithwaite et al hope to prevent. 18 references.