Undercover Deception Clues: A Case of Restrictive Deterrence*

Abstract

Although studies on drug dealing have examined techniques sellers use to ensure against undercover infiltrations, none has explored the use of such techniques at the interactional level. The objective here is to address this void by exploring the perceptual shorthand dealers use to determine whether buyers in question are undercover. This perceptual shorthand processes one of two types of deception clues in making this judgment: trend discontinuity and interpersonal illegitimacy. Trend discontinuity is associated with police in formants and results from situations in which (I) familiar customers suddenly introduce unfamiliar others who wish to buy drugs and (2) familiar customers suddenly and signifcantly increase quantities they themselves desire to purchase. Interpersonal illegitimacy is associated with undercover agents and results from situations in which unfamiliar buyers emit certain physical and verbal “vibes” believed to be indicative of covert law en forcement personnel. Discussion focuses on the data's presuppositional and microstructural implications for restrictive deterrence (Gibbs, 1975). Data were drawn from semi‐structured interviews with 32 semi‐institutionalized heroin user‐dealers located in a very large western US. city.

A little information goes a long way: Expertise and identity theft

“…Although our findings are consistent with research on other fraudsters (Cressey, 1953;Nguyen & Pontell, 2010;Zeitz, 1981) and street offenders Jacobs, 1993Jacobs, , 1999Logie et al, 1992;Nee & Meenaghan, 2006), we recognize that the limitations in the data on identity thieves make drawing solid conclusions difficult (for a full discussion of the data limitations of identity theft and identity thieves, see Copes & Vieraitis, 2012;Vieraitis, Copes, & Birch, 2013;Vieraitis & Shuryadi, forthcoming). We do, however, offer some insight into the role that experience in legitimate and illegitimate economies plays in the development of the practical, social, and cognitive skills offenders develop and how these skills foster their continued participation, or persistence, in identity theft.…”

“…Although offenders face many risks, research indicates that experienced offenders develop a set of specialized skills designed to avoid detection from law enforcement (e.g., Holt, Blevins, & Kuhns, 2014;Jacobs, 1999;Jacques & Reynald, 2012;Wright & Decker, 1997). Theoretically, this branch of research is consistent with work on restrictive deterrence and examines the risk reduction and arrest avoidance strategies of offenders (Gallupe, Bouchard, & Caulkins, 2011;Jacobs, 1993Jacobs, , 1996Jacques & Allen, 2014). A key idea from this research is that offenders do not passively accept risk.…”

“…For example, in a grocery store an offender may spend a lot on groceries, but ask for only a small amount of cash back on the transaction to obtain money without drawing attention from a cashier. Such practices of changing the way they enact the frauds are consistent with research on risk reduction and arrest avoidance strategies, which are developed based on experience and expertise (Jacobs, 1993(Jacobs, , 1996.…”

Offending: Drug-related expertise and decision making

“…Of these, manipulating the geography of transactions is an example of transactional mediation with a double-edged sword. On the one hand, without the street's public arena there is an increased the risk of being duped by the buyer but on the other, being less open enables the dealer to unobtrusively identify undercover police (i.e., undercover police generally want to control transactions by dictating where, when, and under what circumstances these occur; see Jacobs, 1993Jacobs, , 1996b.…”

Expanding Predictive Policing, Enhancing Infiltration Strategies

“…Interpersonal illegitimacy is associated with undercover agents and results from situations in which unfamiliar buyers emit certain physical and verbal "vibes" believed to be indicative of covert law enforcement personnel [27]. "…”