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.

Related

bust · sting · infiltrate · confidential informant · narcotics · detective · plainclothes · snitch · handler · identity · mole · rat · vice · gang unit · evidence · wire · body wire · marked bills

Categories
Opposites
visibility/uniform status

undercover copsbeat cops

Officers patrolling assigned neighborhoods

patrol officers · traffic cops · riot police · mounted police · SWAT teams

operational method

undercover copscommunity policing

Partnership-based crime prevention

police raids · foot patrol · SWAT teams

relationship to law

undercover copscriminals

Lawbreakers by act

crime bosses · gangsters · mobsters · drug dealers · made men

Family

under, cover, undercover, covers, covered, covering, uncover, uncovered, discover

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG