44 replies to this topic

[molls72002]

Hey guys havent posted in a while,

has anyone been on any undercover ops and if so how often do you get chance??

Edited by molls72002, 11 October 2006 - 02:27 PM.

[MattD]

Working undercover ,properly, requires specific training and long term support. IIRC there is actually an intensive course run by the Met for undercover work that any E&W officer from any force can apply to attend.

I suspect not many specials will have done this course however quite a few will have done plain clothes ops against a variety of offences such as robbery,begging,prositution and street crime etc

So when do i get my special cigarette shaped lighter pistol and warrant card encased in explosive plastique ??

[emu_lover]

I think its as and when resources are needed for it in my area. Its not routine for SPC's to be involved in them but that said if your interested in it there is no stopping you becoming involved just speak to the right Sgts. A fair few occur in daytime so its not possible for SPC's to be involved. I probably do 1/2 per month

[Sheepy]

undercover or plain clothes?

done loads of plain clothes do it quite often

[molls72002]

ok cheers guys, that may be an idea, so how often are plain clothed duties handed to
SC's

Edited by molls72002, 11 October 2006 - 02:24 PM.

[Basil Fawlty]

Did loads of plain clothes shifts, and was seconded to a plain clothes crime op for a month or so.

Undercover = requires specialist training as mentioned before. My force advertised for officers to be trained up as undercover drug buyers when I was in for an op, and I'd imagine that because of the nature of the work, most if not all undercover roles require training up beforehand, for insurance purposes if nothing else.

How often are they handed out? How long is a piece of string? In the City Centre they were running on a pretty regular basis, where on some other divisions they probably weren't as frequent. The ability of Specials to do them depends on how many shifts they can commit (for continuity); if they fit in with the numbers (tried doing plain clothes 3 up? You stick out a mile off!) etc.

Edited by Basil Fawlty, 11 October 2006 - 02:27 PM.

[Sheepy]

depends! Quite a bit at xmas due to theiving pondlife

[emu_lover]

ok cheers guys, that may be an idea, so how often are plain clothed duties handed to
SC's

if your joining west mids (going on your avatar) why not post it in the force specific area. Taskings vary widely for SPC's between forces they might be able to give you a better picture

[MattD]

Actual undercover work is a fine line id imagine to walk, from what ive read you need to have a very good working knowledge of the legal concept of acting as an agent provactuer (sp). How to witness an offence without inspiring it or actually provoking it.

For that reason i cant see many SC`s doing the work. Plain clothes can be fun, ive done 1 along the same lines as the others above against street begging- the easiest 3 arrests in a shift ive ever made.

[molls72002]

Any sort of 1 day training involved or does it just go along the same lines as your training throughout

Edited by molls72002, 11 October 2006 - 02:35 PM.

[Sheepy]

depends on the operation. It might be a 5 min briefing of what you have to do depending on the complexity of the op!

[Gabba]

Sssshhhh!!! I'm working under cover as we speak.



joking aside, I have done both pain and undercover. undercover mainly in pubs and clubs.

[Basil Fawlty]

For plain clothes? No training - just went out and picked it up as I went along. Fortunately I was with a very experienced plain clothes Sergeant so learnt a lot very quickly.

For Undercover - no idea!

Sssshhhh!!! I'm working under cover as we speak.



joking aside, I have done both pain and undercover. undercover mainly in pubs and clubs.

That on licensing ops doing test purchases? Did some of that - personally I wouldn't call it undercover, more plain clothes.

[MattD]

The proper met undercover course AIUI is very extensive and atleast full time over 3-4weeks.

Working just in plaint clothes doesnt really require much training other than not answering your radio in full view of people . When i joined i just missed out on a specials only plain clothes job in a town near me. The local officers had intelligence that on a wednesday night one of the pubs was gettng in girls to dance (no problems there) but also that they were doing alot more than just lap or pole dancing.

A handful of specials got to spend the whole night in there drinking coke and watching the girls dance. Personally i would have shown the committment to stay on working well after the op had finished....

[Gabba]

That on licensing ops doing test purchases? Did some of that - personally I wouldn't call it undercover, more plain clothes.

I have done that, but also did some ops on problem pubs that had high drug issues, won't go into details.

[molls72002]

The proper met undercover course AIUI is very extensive and atleast full time over 3-4weeks.

Working just in plaint clothes doesnt really require much training other than not answering your radio in full view of people . When i joined i just missed out on a specials only plain clothes job in a town near me. The local officers had intelligence that on a wednesday night one of the pubs was gettng in girls to dance (no problems there) but also that they were doing alot more than just lap or pole dancing.

A handful of specials got to spend the whole night in there drinking coke and watching the girls dance. Personally i would have shown the committment to stay on working well after the op had finished....

See those are the sort of Ops i wanna be on!!!!lol

All sounds good thou! cant wait till i get my chance!!

Edited by molls72002, 11 October 2006 - 02:49 PM.

[Sheepy]

The proper met undercover course AIUI is very extensive and atleast full time over 3-4weeks.

Working just in plaint clothes doesnt really require much training other than not answering your radio in full view of people . When i joined i just missed out on a specials only plain clothes job in a town near me. The local officers had intelligence that on a wednesday night one of the pubs was gettng in girls to dance (no problems there) but also that they were doing alot more than just lap or pole dancing.

A handful of specials got to spend the whole night in there drinking coke and watching the girls dance. Personally i would have shown the committment to stay on working well after the op had finished....

absolutely. Perhaps even a bit of recon work

[Gavin]

I've done plain clothes once targetting anti-social behaviour. Doesn't come about much here as we have a team of Regs specifically for plain clothes ops.

[Waddy]

Special Ops Unit undercover work is highly skilled highly demanding and generally pretty unpleseant. You cannot work within your own county whilst test purchasing so it means long periods of time away from home living in less than desirable conditions associating with generally unpleseant people. It is not something that specials could ever really hope to do. It will involve a good amount of training and as has already been pointed out an exceptional understanding of the rules of evidence and agent provocateur and entrapment. Plain clothes is an entirely different matter and I believe regularly done by many SPC's up and down the country, I only regret the fact that I never got to do a plain clothes op at all in the entire time I was in the specials!!

[Hull_9]

We get to do a fair bit of p/c work, but the problem is that our force will not issue the covert vests to Specials, so you either go out looking fat, with random bulges, or you have to borrow one. All it is, is a white sleeveless vest with pockets into which you put your panels out of your regular stab vest, but as Specials are intended as a high visibility presence, they are not issued with plain clothes kit.

P/c work though is exciting, and gets the adrenaline going lots more than uniform - I really enjoy the sneaky-beaky aspect. Also, if you are hungry, thirsty, or want a fag, crack on, as no-one can tell you're a copper!!!

As for undercover, I think you are - without meaning to be rude or mean - fantasising a bit... we are volunteers, and you must remember which job pays the mortgage! Doing undercover work would be too high a risk for us, exciting as it may sound.

[Hotlush]

Did a few plain clothes duties on my old section targetting vehicle crime and anti-vice ops, but not much opportunity/necessity to do it on the current. Did one a few weeks ago though to make it easier to sneak up on kids who had alcohol, think they thought I was cheating

[Moley]

That on licensing ops doing test purchases? Did some of that - personally I wouldn't call it undercover, more plain clothes.

i'll probabley get ID'd if it was in pubs, i always get ID'd

"excuse me can we see some ID"
"yes here you are"
"thankyou officer go right in"
"barstaff check sll ID's there is a copper in"

sorry

did one undercover op, we had to cover hotspots in an area and the officer i was with decided to go lock someone up as he would always hide from police. we turned up at the house and had a whole load of idiots start on us as we walked into room (cue officer i'm with pressing panick button and fighting with suspects) it was fun though

[tigerdazzle]

I've done plain clothes ops.
The last one was driving around in an unmarked vehicle and radioing in all the unroadworthy cars that we saw, so a team of regs and vosa personnel could pull 'em over, give them a complete check over and either ticket them or take their motor off 'em.
Was great fun, i'd only been in about 4 months at the time.

[McGinty]

I have done that, but also did some ops on problem pubs that had high drug issues, won't go into details.

It's still not 'undercover', it's plain clothes. Undercover is more specialised, and usually lasts long enough for you to become known to, and trusted by, the offenders/targets

[pH_14]

Rules and regs will, as always, vary between forces and sometimes even BCU's.

For my own area, plain clothes always has to be the subject of a formal operation order, the officers deployed must be independent patrol authorised and working with the knowledge of the sector Special Inspector.