The Thin Line That is Injustice
It is common practice for law enforcement officials to employ dubious and somewhat underhand methods in their quest for evidence. More often than not, it is apparent that the desire for convictions surpasses the prevalence of justice in such criminal matters. A prime example of this is evinced in the acquisition of evidence through undercover operations.
To go "undercover" is to avoid detection by the entity one is observing, 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 to learn or confirm confidential information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gather information or evidence.
Undercover tactics are traditionally employed by law enforcement agencies in their quest for evidence in criminal matters. It is however not limited to law enforcement as it has been employed by other operatives such as in espionage.
In more recent times, post-cold war era, undercover operations have become almost synonymous with criminal investigations. Predominant in drug trades and such covert matters. Law enforcement officers are entrusted with the task of retrieving information and delivering it to judicial officers for purposes of prosecution. Albeit grudgingly, it is blatant that some of the information is also used to perpetrate extra judicial killings of suspects. That is however a topic for discussion on another day.
Closer home and