covert operation

 

  • [7] Domestic settings To go “undercover” (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one’s observation, and especially to disguise one’s
    own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization in order to learn or confirm confidential information, or to gain the trust of targeted individuals to gather information or evidence.

  • This order defined covert action as “special activities”, both political and military, that the US Government could legally deny.

  • [17] The FBI requires that such activities must be sanctioned and necessary for the investigation; they also stipulate that agents may not instigate criminal activity (to
    avoid entrapment) or participate in violence except for self-defense or the defense of others.

  • From the start, the force occasionally employed plainclothes undercover detectives, but there was much public anxiety that its powers were being used for the purpose of political
    repression.

  • [21] The lifestyle led by undercover agents is very different compared to other areas in law enforcement, and it can be quite difficult to reintegrate back into normal duties.

  • While covert organizations are generally of a more official military or paramilitary nature, like the DVS German Air Transport School in the Nazi era, the line between both
    becomes muddled in the case of front organizations engaged in terrorist activities and organized crime.

  • The lack of the usual controls of a uniform, badge, constant supervision, a fixed place of work, or (often) a set assignment could, combined with their continual contact with
    the organized crime, increase the likelihood for corruption.

  • Police officers in plainclothes must identify themselves when using their police powers; however, they are not required to identify themselves on demand and may lie about
    their status as a police officer in some situations (see sting operation).

  • [23] As the undercover agents are removed from the bureaucracy, it may result in another problem.

  • [1] Some of the covert operations are also clandestine operations which are performed in secret and meant to stay secret, though many are not.

  • [22] The stress that an undercover agent faces is considerably different from his counterparts on regular duties, whose main source of stress is the administration and the
    bureaucracy.

  • Operations may be directed at or conducted with allies and friends to secure their support for controversial components of foreign policy throughout the world.

  • [16] These criminal activities are primarily used to “provide opportunities for the suspect to engage in the target crime” and to maintain or bolster their cover identity.

  • In part due to these concerns, the 1845 official Police Orders required all undercover operations to be specifically authorized by the superintendent.

  • Also other series that deal with covert operations are Mission: Impossible, Alias, Burn Notice, The Unit, The State Within, Covert Affairs, Air Wolf, 24, The West Wing, The
    Blacklist, Scandal, Strike Back series, and Vagabond.

  • Laws[edit] Under US law, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) must lead covert operations unless the president finds that another agency should do so and informs Congress.

  • The Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (Joint Publication JP1-02), defines “covert operation” as “an operation that is so planned and executed
    as to conceal the identity of or permit plausible denial by the sponsor.

  • [7] He argues that keeping military operations secret can limit escalation dynamics, as well as insulate leaders from domestic pressures while simultaneously allowing them
    communicating their interest to the adversary in keeping a war contained.

  • [26] Controversies[edit] ATF fictional sting operations: USA; 2011 – 2014; Government agents enticed targeted victims and incited them to commit crimes of a type and scale
    calculated to procure specific sentences, for which they would then be prosecuted and jailed, typically for around 15 years.

  • One year later, it expanded again, to 28 secret agents.

  • Impact[edit] According to a 2018 study by University of Chicago political scientist Austin Carson, covert operations may have the beneficial effect of preventing escalation
    of disputes into full-blown wars.

  • However, these crimes must be necessary to advance the investigation otherwise they may be prosecutable like any other crime.

  • [19] Risks[edit] There are two principal problems that can affect agents working in undercover roles.

  • Foreign settings Covert operations aim to fulfill their mission objectives without anyone knowing who sponsored or carried out the operation.

  • This could even result in the conversion of some agents.

  • Its name was changed to Special Branch as it had its remit gradually expanded to incorporate a general role in counter terrorism, combating foreign subversion and infiltrating
    organized crime.

  • This pioneering branch became the first to receive training in counter-terrorism techniques.

  • [10] Special Branch detectives on an undercover operation at the London Docks, 1911 The first Special Branch of police was the Special Irish Branch, formed as a section of
    the Criminal Investigation Department of the MPS in London in 1883, initially to combat the bombing campaign that the Irish Republican Brotherhood had begun a few years earlier.

  • [11] In the United States, a similar route was taken when the New York City Police Department under police commissioner William McAdoo established the Italian Squad in 1906
    to combat rampant crime and intimidation in the poor Italian neighborhoods.

  • [2] The CIA’s authority to conduct covert action comes from the National Security Act of 1947.

 

Works Cited

[‘1. Carson, Austin (2018). Secret Wars: Covert Conflict in International Politics. Princeton University Press. pp. 5–6. doi:10.2307/j.ctv346p45. JSTOR j.ctv346p45.
2. ^ Jump up to:a b Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency, William J.
Daugherty, University of Kentucky Press, 2004, page 25.
3. ^ Jump up to:a b William J. Daugherty, Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency, University of Kentucky Press, 2004.
4. ^ All Necessary Means: Employing CIA operatives in a
Warfighting Role Alongside Special Operations Forces, Colonel Kathryn Stone, Professor Anthony R. Williams (Project Advisor), United States Army War College (USAWC), 7 April 2003, page 7
5. ^ Daugherty, 2004, page 28.
6. ^ Daugherty, 2004, page
29.
7. ^ Jump up to:a b c Carson, Austin (2018). Secret Wars: Covert Conflict in International Politics. Princeton University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv346p45. JSTOR j.ctv346p45.
8. ^ Hodgetts, Edward A. (1928). Vidocq. A Master of Crime. London:
Selwyn & Blount.
9. ^ Morton, James (2004), The First Detective: The Life and Revolutionary Times of Vidocq (in German), Ebury Press, ISBN 978-0-09-190337-4
10. ^ Mitchel P. Roth, James Stuart Olson (2001). Historical Dictionary of Law Enforcement.
Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-313-30560-3.
11. ^ Tim Newburn; Peter Neyroud (2013). Dictionary of Policing. Routledge. p. 262. ISBN 978-1-134-01155-1.
12. ^ Anne T. Romano (2010). Italian Americans in Law Enforcement. Xlibris
Corporation. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-4535-5882-9.
13. ^ Marx, G. (1988). Undercover: Police Surveillance in America. Berkeley: University of California Press
14. ^ Anne T. Romano (11 November 2010). Italian Americans in Law Enforcement. Xlibris Corporation.
pp. 33–. ISBN 978-1-4535-5882-9. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
15. ^ Shelley, Louise (12 October 1995). “Soviet Undercover Work”. In Fijnaut, Cyrille; Marx, Gary T. (eds.). Undercover: Police Surveillance in Comparative Perspective. The Hague: Martinus
Nijhoff Publishers (published 1995). p. 166. ISBN 9789041100153. Retrieved 3 December 2020. For most of the Soviet period, the undercover work of the secret police was directed at […] potential enemies of the state. Particularly in the Stalinist
period, a vast network of informers existed throughout the country […]. Although approximately one out of ten individuals were acknowledged informers, most of the population was compromised in some way through their cooperation with the secret police.
16. ^
Joh 2009, p. 157.
17. ^ Joh 2009, p. 165.
18. ^ {{{first}}} Op. Atty’ Gen., The Attorney General’S Guidelines on Federal Bureau of Investigation Undercover Operations, {{{volume}}} {{{journal}}} {{{page}}}, 12 (2002).
19. ^ Joh 2009, p. 168.
20. ^
Girodo, M. (1991). Symptomatic reactions to undercover work. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 179 (10), 626–630.
21. ^ Jump up to:a b Marx, G. (1988). Undercover: Police Surveillance in America. Berkeley: University of California Press
22. ^
Jump up to:a b c d e Marx, G. (1988). Undercover: Police Surveillance in America. Berkeley: University of California Press.
23. ^ Brown, Jennifer; Campbell, Elizabeth (October 1990). “Sources of occupational stress in the police”. Work & Stress.
4 (4): 305–318. doi:10.1080/02678379008256993.
24. ^ Girodo, M. (1991). Drug corruptions in undercover agents: Measuring the risks. Behavioural Science and the Law, 9, 361–370.
25. ^ Girodo, M. (1991). Personality, job stress, and mental health
in undercover agents. Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality, 6 (7), 375–390.
26. ^ Code3Paris. “Unmarked Police Cars Responding Compilation: Sirens NYPD Police Taxi, Federal Law Enforcement, FDNY”. Archived from the original on 21 December
2021 – via YouTube.
Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rkramer62/6265084065/’]