Date of Award

Fall 2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Public Administration (DPA)

Department

Public Policy and Administration

Committee Chairperson

Kristen B. Crossney, PhD

Committee Member

Angela Kline, PhD

Committee Member

Mark W. Davis, PhD

Abstract

This study used interpretative phenomenological analysis to gather and analyze semi-structured interviews of seven participants who took part in deep undercover programs between the 1970s and 1990s. In the early 1980s, under pressure from civil rights advocates, law enforcement implemented policies restricting the use of undercover police officers in non-violent intelligence investigations. The new guidelines resulted in robust selection and training requirements for deep undercover assignments which became focused on those who advocated criminal acts in furtherance of social or political objectives. The lived experiences revealed that while intelligence guidelines intended to protect civil rights applied to all personnel, training and selection criterion were more stringently applied to deep undercover officers than other personnel working deep undercover programs (i.e. investigators and handlers). The lack of a well-being program, coupled with an unyielding approach to secrecy, may have increased perceptions of stress and isolation. A less structured training regimen for new investigators may have led to uneven results in undercover participants’ perceptions of safety and protection of civil rights, disproportionately falling to the more junior undercover officers. These officers protected civil rights by focusing on those one-percenters who were likely to commit criminal acts, disregarding cheerleaders who passively supported, or were ignorant of, the groups’ criminal intentions.

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