Undercover Police Officers Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Undercover Police Officers - Term Paper Example Undercover Investigations 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 g oing 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 wrongd oers’ 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