Understanding how to become an undercover agent and the duties of the position can help you decide whether this is the right profession for you. In this article, we discuss how to become an undercover police officer, the responsibilities of the job, their average salary and the skills they need.
An undercover cop is a law enforcement officer who performs their duties while concealing their identity as an agent of the law. They are also called plainclothes police officers because the people they often typically perform their duties out of uniform. Undercover police officers perform a wide range of secret investigations to identify criminals, solve cases or break up organized criminal organizations. The job of an undercover agent sometimes requires taking up false identities, and it can involve joining crime syndicates that require meticulous intelligence gathering to find hard evidence to prosecute criminals.
Undercover law enforcement can serve as expert witnesses during court cases. They may also have to keep detailed records of their findings for administrative purposes and to support the prosecution's case in court.
Becoming an undercover agent requires more training than regular law enforcement duties. Candidates must be skilled in firearms use, be in good physical shape and possess the temperament and personality for the job. Related: 20 Careers in Law Enforcement. The primary duty of undercover law enforcement agents is to solve crimes. However, they may need to engage in several activities to achieve their goals.
Common responsibilities for an undercover police officer include:. One of the basic duties of undercover law enforcement agents is to adopt a false identity. You may have to maintain this identity at varying levels of dedication, depending on the length and complexity of the undercover mission. For example, undercover investigators may need to learn a different language, rent a new home, take up a new name or spend time away from family to solve a crime. Depending on the severity of the case they're solving, they may even need to pretend to be part of a criminal network.
Undercover agents carry out electronic surveillance operations that may involve using body-worn audiovisual equipment like miniature microphones or video cameras. This equipment allows investigators to gather evidence discreetly, especially when they are close to a contact who does not know they're working on an undercover mission.
Undercover agents can also help organizations identify dishonest or malicious employees sabotaging their business. The overriding concern in any undercover operation is for the safety of the undercover member.
A sergeant or above will supervise all undercover operations. It is essential that adequate cover officers are present during any undercover operation. Undercover member: A sworn member who is working in plainclothes and in a covert manner with the goal of making personal contact with another person in a criminal investigation.
An undercover member may work alone or with any number of undercover members. When in a covert role, the member is subject to the following:. At no time will an officer consume controlled substances as a part of the undercover role.
A member working in an undercover role should be armed. If there is a specific reason the member cannot be armed, approval from the RU manager or designee will be obtained before the member works unarmed.
Members should avoid drinking alcohol when working undercover. In such situations and whenever possible, members will consume non-alcoholic beverages. If the need arises, a member may drink alcohol but should refrain from drinking in excess. Members should attempt to use audio recording devices while working undercover.
If this is not practical or there is a legal reason for not recording, the member will seek supervisory approval prior to the commencement of the operation DVD is available to assist with listening devices.
Members working undercover in a prostitution mission will use audio recording devices during the entire mission, but only record those persons whom they have probable cause to believe are about to commit the crime of prostitution. An undercover member will not engage in sexual contact. With over years of combined experience, let our team of attorneys fight for your rights. Skip to main content Skip to primary sidebar Skip to footer Menu. Under the law, a person can not be found guilty of an offense if the following two conditions exist: He was induced or encouraged to engage in that conduct by a public servant or by a person acting in cooperation with a public servant seeking to obtain evidence against him for the purpose of criminal prosecution.
At the time of the inducement or encouragement, he was not otherwise disposed to engage in such conduct. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Entrapment is a defense to criminal charges, and it's based on interaction between police officers and the defendant prior to or during the alleged crime.
A typical entrapment scenario arises when law enforcement officers use coercion and other overbearing tactics to induce someone to commit a crime. Read on to learn more about entrapment, including case examples and standards used to evaluate an entrapment claim. For in-depth discussion of other common defenses to criminal charges, check out Nolo's article Defenses to Criminal Charges. The key aspect of entrapment is this: Government agents do not entrap defendants simply by offering them an opportunity to commit a crime.
Judges expect people to resist any ordinary temptation to violate the law. An entrapment defense arises when government agents resort to repugnant behavior such as the use of threats, harassment, fraud, or even flattery to induce defendants to commit crimes. Case Example 1. Mary-Anne Berry is charged with selling illegal drugs to an undercover police officer.
Berry testifies that the drugs were for her personal use and that the reason she sold some to the officer is that at a party, the officer falsely said that she wanted some drugs for her mom, who was in a lot of pain.
According to Berry, the officer even assured Berry that she wasn't a cop and wasn't setting Berry up. The police officer's actions do not amount to entrapment. Police officers are allowed to tell lies. The officer gave Berry an opportunity to break the law, but the officer did not engage in extreme or overbearing behavior. Case Example 2.
Berry testifies that, "The drugs were for my personal use. For nearly two weeks, the undercover officer stopped by my apartment and pleaded with me to sell her some of my stash because her mom was extremely sick and needed the drugs for pain relief.
I kept refusing. When the officer told me that the drugs would allow her mom to be comfortable for the few days she had left to live, I broke down and sold her some drugs.
She immediately arrested me. States employ either an objective or a subjective standard to determine whether entrapment occurred.
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