Police Entrapment

Police Entrapment

What is "entrapment"?

Entrapment is a very specific, affirmative legal defense which is where you are enticed to commit a crime that you would otherwise have no reasonable likelihood of doing or no interest in doing. The classic entrapment case is the DeLorean case, where the police got somebody who was a car dealer and suggested to him that he could deal cocaine, set up the entire deal, and it was found to be entrapment.

Do undercover police have to identify themselves when I ask?

If you ask an undercover cop, "Are you an undercover cop?" they will say, "No." If you say, "You have to tell me if you're a cop, right?" they'll say, "Right, I'm not a cop." Cops are allowed to lie. Undercover cops are allowed to lie. They do not have to identify themselves when asked.