Undercover policing: A psychological and operational guide

Undercover policing carries a tremendous responsibility for interdicting crime and political violence by preventive infiltration of criminal organizations to disrupt their operations and bring their perpetrators to justice. As much of this process involves the skillful manipulation of human relationships, psychology has a vital role to play in all major phases of undercover work. This article will describe the role of psychological services in team formation, selection and training of undercover officers (UCOs), preparation for undercover operations, deployment and monitoring, termination and reintegration, and managing deployment stress and post-operation psychological syndromes.