undercover cops
Police in plainclothes
Undercover cops are police officers who conceal their identity and law enforcement role to investigate criminal activity from the inside.
They may adopt false personas, infiltrate organizations, or pose as buyers in drug stings.
The term appears frequently in crime dramas and news coverage: The bust was set up by undercover cops.
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
- stakeoutProlonged covert observation
- informantOne who provides intelligence
- badgeWorn symbol of membership
- wiretapHidden listening device
bust · sting · infiltrate · confidential informant · narcotics · detective · plainclothes · snitch · handler · identity · mole · rat · vice · gang unit · evidence · wire · body wire · marked bills
- policeofficer, cop, officers, patrol, police departments
- crimefightersdetectives, FBI, police, sheriffs, deputies
- law enforcementFBI, police station, patrolmen, police officer, cop
- Legal mythsMiranda rights, entrapment, castle doctrine, double jeopardy, insanity plea
- Miami ViceCrockett, Tubbs, Don Johnson, Ferrari Testarossa, linen suits
undercover copsbeat cops
Officers patrolling assigned neighborhoods
patrol officers · traffic cops · riot police · mounted police · SWAT teams
undercover copscriminals
Lawbreakers by act
crime bosses · gangsters · mobsters · drug dealers · made men
under, cover, undercover, covers, covered, covering, uncover, uncovered, discover