Undercover Police Officers - Term Paper Example

?Undercover Investigations Research a law enforcement topic of your choice. identify the strengths, threats and weakness and report on the opportunities, and determine whether it is effective in preventing crime. The Police departments and officers are continuously in danger of shoot outs, threats and revolting attitudes from the criminals and offenders of law. Police officers are assigned different tasks and the methods of each task differ greatly from one another. The use of undercover police activities forms one of the major techniques to combat criminals and corrupted people who are either too much involved in or aware of the Police activities that it becomes difficult to capture them. Uniformed duties differ greatly from undercover Police work in a number of ways. The uniformed duty poses as an identification tag for the public and other officials working round them, however, undercover duty makes them a part of the general population. Undercover Police investigations are distinct as per the nature and system of work being involved. This paper aims to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that undercover Police officers face and analyzes the effectiveness of adopting this technique in the prevention of crime. Strengths The undercover Policing technique helps a lot in exposing or exploring the truth behind certain crimes. The basic strength of this technique is that it counters any impediment in gaining appropriate information about the case. It does so by hiding the real identity of the police officer. The absence of uniform and secrecy of identity helps in maintaining normal behaviors, activities and environment where the investigation is going on. The undercover Police officers work for a specified time period on particular cases and acquire a fake or imaginary identity for the scenario they deal with. Undercover work is based on secrecy of identity of the undercover police officers. This enables the officer to observe the environment without any biased or changed behaviors which are probable due to the awareness about Police officers’ or law enforcers’ presence. The assumed identity enables the officers to move around in suspicious areas where Police is generally not welcomed. The officers get information which might be hidden from uniformed Police staff. The qualities required for an undercover Police officer are much in line with the traits of a good investigator. The most important strength of this investigation technique is the involvement of a professional Police officer in the whole process. The jury or court comfortably and reliably understand the whole case with supporting evidence in the form of video, audio, written or other forms. The involvement of the officer at the crime scene with full list or range of evidences leaves no space for suspicion. The jury is able to view the crime as it happens at the crime place or by the characters involved (Ruvver et. al., 2002 p. 333). Weaknesses This investigation technique adopted by law enforcement agencies and Police departments is a useful tool of combating a number of crimes and unusual behaviors. However, like other techniques, it has its weaknesses attached. The main weakness of this technique is the selection of undercover officers which require closer attention to the traits and experience of the officer. If the officer has a strong background in Police and crime prevention activities, he is likely to be good at undercover investigation. The undercover investigations require much insight on how to tackle and behave like the people involved. Any unusual or suspicious activity or behavior may startle the criminals or wrongdoers’ perceptions and views about that particular character in their area, gang, activity or surrounding. The weakness, hence, is the complexity of the working environment where officers’ aredirectly associated and involved in the criminal activities or taking part in it somehow to capture and closely monitor their performances. This undue involvement firstly is dangerous for the investigators as per their closer relationships and integration with the people who are being observed. Any minor mistake may end up as a threat to the undercover officers’ life. This life risking factor is the most important and common weakness of this technique. In addition, the fact that only selected people are able to carry out the job of undercover officers is important. If the officer is not competent enough or have limited skills to perform the tasks assigned, the results may be inappropriate and unacceptable as well as an awful experience for the reputation of the investigating department or agency. Opportunities The external environment and personal experience of undercover investigator helps in determining the roots of a criminal activity. Undercover investigations provide firsthand knowledge about the crimes or activities being performed by the criminals. The opportunities that the environment of undercover investigations provides include more and more information about the crime chain being executed by law violators. The investigator, hence, has many opportunities to find out even those who were not supposed to be targeted or included in the investigation. Threats The main threat that is faced by undercover officers is the safety element. The undercover officers are surrounded by people who are or are likely to be involved in criminal activities. If investigator’s real identity is disclosed or found out by those people, the investigator’s life is in severe dangers. The undercover investigation team poses a threat of deception. One deceiver in the team may risk the lives and mission to risk. The undercover officers, moreover, face emotional and psychological distress. As per the nature of their work, they feel uncomfortable and at risk most of the times. Their anxiety levels are always high with depression surrounding them. This paranoia takes them in to a state of complete depression where they start questioning about the safety and reasonableness of continuing their job as an undercover officer. The uncanny ability of criminals or people who are involved in such activities to identify police officers or deceivers is also a threat to the investigation results, evidences and life of the officer (Colling et. al., 2010p. 420). Moreover, the closer interaction with criminals and at times active involvement in their plans to gain trust may lead to change in the interest of undercover officers. It poses as a great weakness of the system. Such deception by the officer may lead to deceptive outcomes of his reports and the crime or wrong activity may go unnoticed. Another threat related to the undercover investigations is the unfamiliarity of other law and order departments about the undercover officers. Hence, there is a threat to their independence and duty due to interruption from those officials and professionals. Effectiveness of Undercover investigation Technique Keeping the strengths and opportunities in view, the effectiveness of undercover investigations cannot be questioned. However, there is a need to properly plan, design and implement the undercover operation. The selection of agents is one of the most important parts in assuring the effectiveness of such investigations. These are helpful in most of the drug related crimes, however, the effectiveness in the area of sexual and physical assault is questionable. The technique is used by various organizations to combat the activities which are harming the social and individual life of people. The hidden identity of the investigators and the complexity of their tasks threaten the effectiveness of such investigations (Albanese 2011). There is a need to properly formulate a well organized plan with efficient team members for better results of the investigation. Bibliography Albanese, J. S. (2011). Organized crime in our times. Burlington, MA: Anderson Pub. Ruyver, B. ., Vermeulen, G., Beken, T. ., & Rijksuniversiteit te Gent. (2002). Strategies of the EU and the US in combating transnational organized crime. Antwerp: Maklu. Colling, R. L., York, T. W., Colling, R. L., & ScienceDirect (Online service). (2010). Hospital and healthcare security. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann. Read More