Ah, the wonderfully exciting stories of the corrupted undercover narcotics cop comes alive outside of Hollywood. And as some of us remember the recent release of American Gangster, it all makes so much more sense. The temptation lies for undercover officers to take a cut of the drugs or the cash they uncover. But does that really make them bad people? Does it really warrant firing a cop or giving them jail sentence? Okay, well I’m sure some of them do–there are bad apples in every bunch. But having come so close to becoming “one of them”, surely it is natural for your mind and rationale to bend that way too? If the New York City Police Department doesn’t already do this, they must invest in a constant back-to-base system to keep psychologists or other medical professionals in regular contact with their undercovers.
In a recent article in the New York Times, all wannabe undercovers are given a brief job description:
“Being a good undercover officer takes a certain type of person. You must be an impeccable actor, a chameleon who can blend seamlessly into easily combustible situations, coolly stare your target in the eye and lie. You have to know the street lingo for drugs, like red top or blue top for different vials of cocaine.
You have to look the part, wear the right clothes, and have a good back story. If you say you are a mechanic, you’d better know cars, because chances are that the dealer will too. Many undercover narcotics officers use props. They might push shopping carts filled with soda cans in plastic bags, aping a homeless person, and twitch like an addict.”
You’d think replacing the above with “well-trained, professional actor who could probably become more successful on Broadway or in film than some undercover gig” would suffice. No doubt, the job’s insane. But I encourage all those Hollywood drop-outs to give it a crack–no pun intended.