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1 Undercover Policing and Ethical Dilemmas Macey Hale Saint Leo University CRJ-530-MCOL2 Ethics in Criminal Justice Dr. Gary Metts February 17, 2022

2 Abstract The criminal justice field has many complex, interesting, and detailed career pathways for different individuals. With this in mind, individuals may be placed in riskier careers in order to advance their skills and even their resume. One prime example of a risky career would be would be undercover policing (Joh, 2009). As an undercover officer, individuals are given pressuring goals to collect information or contacts from gangs, secret societies, and even major drug activities (Joh, 2009). While the career path is highly praised within law enforcement agencies, the unethical activities are often controversy to the public. As an undercover officer, individuals may have to participate in unethical criminal activity to keep their identities concealed (Joh, 2009). The public frowns upon this due to the undercover officers’ participation in illegal and illicit behavior, causing the public to suspect that law enforcement is above the law (Joh, 2009). This research will be solely focused on the ethical dilemmas of undercover officers committing crimes to keep their identity concealed. Other ethical dilemmas include preventing crime prematurely and receiving advisement before the investigation begins. This paper will focus on responding to the ethical dilemmas provided in the written prompt. As a result, the paper will provide an idea to what is legal and illegal for undercover detectives.

3 Undercover Policing and Ethical Dilemmas Understanding that all law enforcement jobs have some percentage of complexity and uniqueness, issues arise when ethical principles are involved. Undercover officers are sent into dangerous situations in order to collect information, whether it be through luring predators, joining criminal social groups, participating in drug sales, and even prostitute dealings (Lau, 2014). In order for these officers to do this successfully, they create personas in real society, as well as fake online profiles (Lau, 2014). As a result of the various situations and methods used by undercover policing, they face many ethical dilemmas and legal issues in the course of their work. The given prompt for this week focuses on the undercover work of Detectives Underwood and Freeman. During their work, ethical issues will arise from the detectives’ decisions to participate in misdemeanors and felonies to prevent the mission. Another ethical dilemma will arise from the decision to intervene with these criminal activities before they are conducted. With the Federal Bureau of Investigation knowing that these ethical dilemmas will arise, Detectives Underwood and Freeman must be made aware of the actions that are legal and illegal. In the prompt, FBI Special Agent Timothy Johnson mentions that the Ruckus Society may offer Detectives Underwood and Freeman to smoke marijuana or commit simple shoplifting crimes (“Ruckus Society”, 2011). While these are not major crimes, they are still deemed as misdemeanors (Joh, 2009). It is very important to understand that each law enforcement agency has their conduct guidelines, especially for undercover officers (Joh, 2009). Understanding that marijuana is still an illegal substance in many states, the past undercover mission failed due to the detectives lack of participation. While that being said, detectives should feel encouraged to seek other methods of acceptance by the Ruckus Society (Nathan, 2017). The Ruckus Society

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