British Journal of Criminology Advance Access published August 5, 2015

doi:10.1093/bjc/azv076 BRIT. J. CRIMINOL

FROM A VISIBLE SPECTACLE TO AN INVISIBLE PRESENCE:

THE WORKING CULTURE OF COVERT POLICING
Bethan Loftus*, Benjamin Goold and Shane Mac Giollabhui

In this article, we draw upon data derived from an ethnographic field study of covert policing to
shed light on the occupational culture of those officers engaged in the targeted surveillance of the
public. Although many of the attitudes and working practices of covert officers mirror those offices

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found in more ‘traditional’ areas of policing, they also differ from them in a number of important
ways. In particular, aspects of the occupational commonsense inherent to covert surveillance work
reveals a distinct working culture, which operates in isolation from the clichéd cultural expressions
of uniformed police that have been the focus of much scholarship. These alternative expressions of
police culture, we suggest, arise from crucial differences in police logics and method.
Keywords: police culture, covert policing, surveillance, ethnography

Introduction
To date, research on police occupational culture has focused almost exclusively on
uniformed police officers. Given that the vast majority of police officers in most juris-
dictions are uniformed and operate in full view of the public, this focus is understand-
able. As Manning (2003) has pointed out, the practice of policing has the quality of a
deliberate spectacle to it, with officers routinely performing a visually striking display
of their authority and power. Indeed, the uniform is intended to identify the wearer
as a member of the police and is designed to establish police authority when dealing
with members of the public and suspected criminals. Yet, none of this is the case when
it comes to officers routinely involved in conducting covert operations. Instead, such
officers often take great pains to avoid being identified in public. By its very nature, cov-
ert policing is more fluid and unpredictable than routine patrol and investigative work
(Marx 1988). While the constant need for secrecy only reduces the chance that errors
will be discovered either by the public or by the other police officers, the problem of
how to supervise a diffused set of employees who exercise considerable discretion is
compounded in the covert context. Covert officers are far removed from the usual
controls of a recognizable uniform, collar number, visible supervisor and a permanent
location for work (Marx 1988). These formal, readily identifiable features of polic-
ing normally enhance accountability since they advertise to the public—and to other
police officers—who an individual is and their status within the police organization.
Moreover, in terms of the development of an occupational culture, one might surmise
that certain key features of police working life—including the predisposition towards
secrecy and institutional isolationism—have the potential to be considerably exagger-
ated in the covert world.
*Bethan Loftus, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice, School of Law, University of Manchester,
Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK; bethan.loftus@manchester.ac.uk; Benjamin Goold, Peter A. Allard School of Law, The
University of British Columbia Allard Hall, Room 455, 1822 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada; Shane Mac Giollabhui,
St Peter’s College, University of Oxford, Hall Street, Oxford OX1 2DL, UK.

Page 1 of 17
© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (ISTD).
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 LOFTUS ET AL.

Although the existing research literature provides a starting point for thinking about
the culture of covert policing, it remains the case that we know very little about the
working lives of those involved in covert and undercover activities. What we know about
the mindset and behaviour of the police is based predominantly on uniformed officers
who engage in a variety of face-to-face interactions with their various publics. In other
words, while the culture and conduct of uniformed police has been a centrepiece of
criminological scholarship, our understanding of the police use of deceptive and covert
means remains profoundly undeveloped. In this article, we aim to address this chasm
and present findings from an innovative ethnographic study of covert policing in the
United Kingdom. Based on fieldwork conducted between 2009 and 2012, our study

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sheds considerable light on the working culture—the informal values, beliefs and prac-
tices—of covert officers engaged in the targeted surveillance of the public. Among our
key findings was that many of the attitudes and working practices of covert officers mir-
ror those offices found in more ‘traditional’ areas of policing. However, they also depart
from them in a number of important ways. In particular, aspects of the occupational
commonsense inherent to covert surveillance work reveals a distinctly erudite working
culture, which operates in isolation from the clichéd cultural expressions of uniformed
police that have been the focus of much scholarship. These alternative expressions of
police culture, we suggest, arise from crucial differences in police logics and method.
The article proceeds as follows. We begin with a discussion of covert policing, before
going on to examine the key scholarly debates in police culture. Here, we question
whether the informal ethos and practices of covert policing should be regarded as a
subculture whose features need to be recognized as distinctive and in need of analysis
on their own terms. Following a description of our ethnographic study, we then pre-
sent a thematic examination of the working culture of covert officers. In so doing, we
are guided by an overarching concern to understand how officers adapt to a role that
demands a break with, and inversion of, the logics of a uniformed and visible policing
presence. By presenting a selection of excerpts taken from our fieldwork, our aim is to
provide a picture of the inner world of covert policing, and ultimately enhance under-
standings of policing culture.1

The Practice of Covert Policing

Covert investigation generally refers to a situation where the subject of a police inves-
tigation is unaware that they are under surveillance and that the investigation may
infringe upon their private life (Sharpe 2002). While covert investigative methods fre-
quently involve the use of undercover police officers and civilian informants, it also
incorporates various forms of electronic information gathering, such as telephone tap-
ping, email monitoring, as well as video and audio surveillance. Unlike undercover
investigation, which can involve provocation on the part of the operative (Marx 1988;
Ross 2007; Kruisbergen et al. 2011), these more remote methods are often depicted as
having a passive quality. Of course, covert surveillance also involves more mundane
forms of scrutiny—simply following, watching and listening to people without their
knowledge. While covert surveillance is most frequently used to obtain specific evi-
dence against a subject who is suspected of having committed or is in the course of
1
By inner world, we refer to the hidden set of dispositions and practices—the ‘way of life’—of covert police officers.

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 WORKING CULTURE OF COVERT POLICING

committing a crime, covert methods are increasingly used to gather information that
may prove useful to law enforcement organizations at a later date (Sharpe 2002; see
also Marx 1988). Covert policing is directed at what might be regarded as ‘mainstream’
criminal activities—such as organized crime—and is also used to monitor and control
those viewed as a threat to state authority and national security (Bunyan 1977; Gill
2000). Recently, high-profile cases such as the infiltration of environmental activist
groups by undercover officer Mark Kennedy have drawn public attention to the politi-
cal dimension of covert policing, and the various ethical and legal challenges associ-
ated with such investigations.2
While covert policing is hardly new, there is evidence to suggest that the use of

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such investigative strategies has become increasingly widespread over the last decade,
particularly in countries like the United Kingdom. Because police organizations are
required by statute to obtain a written authorization for most forms of covert activity,
there are reasonably reliable records on the amount of surveillance that is currently
being undertaken in the country. According to the Annual Report of the Office of
Surveillance Commissioners, over 12,000 surveillance authorizations were granted in
the year 2013–2014. Based on these figures, it appears that the majority of the forty-
three police forces are engaged in some form of covert surveillance. While the grow-
ing popularity of covert policing may be driven by the—real or imagined—threat of
serious organized crime and global terrorism, less visible forms of illegal behaviour
and the turn towards proactive methods of investigation within police forces (Maguire
2000), it has also been made possible through the greater availability and increased
capacity of a range of surveillance technologies.
Although the Office of the Surveillance Commissioners Annual Reports3 provide
some insight into the extent of covert policing in the United Kingdom, we nevertheless
still know very little about the daily activities of covert police officers, or the values,
beliefs and informal rules that inform their work and decision making. This lack of
knowledge about the culture and practices of covert policing has no doubt been exac-
erbated by the low visibility behaviour of covert officers, as well as their understandable
desire to protect the methods and craft that are essential to covert work. Nevertheless,
we would question whether it is possible for criminologists to continue to make claims
about the police when there is a crucial aspect of their work that has evaded steady
theoretical and empirical attention.

Refocusing Occupational Culture and Police Work

The idea of occupational culture is one that is now well accepted by psychologists, soci-
ologists and criminologists alike. Although many groups within the criminal justice sys-
tem—such as lawyers, probation officers and prison guards—have distinct occupational
cultures, it is the shared working culture of the police that has consistently attracted the
most attention. This interest partly reflects the unique position occupied by the police
2
Mark Kennedy is a former London Metropolitan Police officer who, whilst attached to the police service’s National Public
Order Intelligence Unit, infiltrated numerous social and environmental justice groups before being unmasked by his fellow
political activists as an undercover police officer. His actions in the field, including deceiving women into long-term, intimate
relationships, has prompted several independent inquiries.
3
Copies of these reports (which are produced in accordance with 107(3) of the Police Act 1997) can be found on the Office
of the Surveillance Commissioners’ website: https://osc.independent.gov.uk/.

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 LOFTUS ET AL.

in society since they are the most visible symbols of the legal system and the coercive
power of the state (Bittner 1970). Hence, for many individuals—particularly those from
socially or economically disadvantaged groups—their interactions with the police have
a deep effect on how they view the state and the criminal justice system as a whole. As a
result, identifying how shared values and occupational norms influence police decision
making is crucial to understanding how police power is exercised. Where police culture
creates or perpetuates various forms of bias, it can have a real impact on how ordinary
people experience the law (Van Maanen 1978; see also Bradford 2012).
Ethnographic studies of police culture have identified recurring themes over time
and space, resulting in a somewhat clichéd account of this phenomenon (Loftus 2009;

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Reiner 2010). The police, it is said, have an exaggerated sense of mission towards their
role and crave work that promises excitement. They celebrate masculine exploits, show
a willingness to use force during interactions with the public and engage in informal
working practices that privilege experience over evidence. Officers are continually
suspicious, feel socially isolated from ‘civilian’ members of the public and display a
defensive solidarity with their colleagues. Their culture is often marked by cynicism,
pessimism and secrecy, relying on a simplistic, de-contextualized understanding of
criminality. Police officers want to get their job done with a minimum of hassle and
extract deference from people who are defiant towards their authority. As first noted by
Skolnick (1966), these various cultural attributes arise as officers adapt to the peculiar
demands of the police vocation.
Since covert policing operates outside of the realm of ordinary policing, its inner
workings may be regarded as a subculture whose features need to be recognized as
distinctive and in need of analysis on their own terms. A discrete yet influential body of
literature has found that the occupational culture can indeed vary according to rank,
department and organization. While some scholars have found differences between
rural and urban officers (Cain 1973), others have noted that important divisions also
exist between detectives and their uniformed counterparts (Young 1991), as well as
‘street cops’ and ‘management cops’ (Reuss-Ianni and Ianni 1983). In short, these
works support the idea that there are possible subcultures contained within what is usu-
ally presented as ‘mainstream’ police culture (Foster 2003; Cockcroft 2007). Given the
differences between uniformed and covert police work, there may be reason to believe
that the covert world also has its own unique subculture, characterized by a set of attrib-
utes and norms that reflect the particular institutional arrangements and daily realities
of covert policing and undercover life.

The Research
As noted, this article draws on an extensive empirical investigation of covert policing.
Our objectives were two-fold: to examine how existing legislation aimed at governing
police surveillance—notably, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000—
has affected the routine and extraordinary surveillance activities of police forces in the
United Kingdom and to produce the first comprehensive field account of covert polic-
ing. The fieldwork took place in what we shall call Summershire Police Service, a large
constabulary in England. During the project, Summershire Police was undertaking
numerous directed and intrusive operations, ranging from the deployment of under-
cover officers and informants, to static and mobile surveillance, as well as the creative
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 WORKING CULTURE OF COVERT POLICING

deployment of ‘sting’ operations to lure likely offenders. Our empirical investigation

included the following methodology: First, an analysis of formal legislation and guidelines
relating to covert policing. In order to understand the requirements underpinning the
provision of covert policing, we completed an analysis of the key provisions of the RIPA
2000 and also reviewed internal Force guidelines pertaining to the authorization and
conduct of covert operation. Second, we conducted prolonged observations of selected cov-
ert police operations in the field. We carried out dedicated periods of observation of cov-
ert officers as they went about their ordinary work. Over an eighteen-month period,
we spent time with officers working on dedicated surveillance units who carried out
static and mobile surveillance. For instance, we accompanied the Mobile Surveillance

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Team (MST) whose role is to track subjects travelling in vehicles and on foot. We also
spent time with the Local Surveillance Unit (LSU) whose purpose was to watch the
movements of subjects from various Observational Posts (e.g. surveillance vans). We
also observed the work of the Technical Surveillance Team (TST) whose officers are
responsible for installing and retrieving surveillance devices in the homes of subjects,
as well as other locations, and the Ground Intelligence Office (GIO) whose role is to
broker intelligence between different units within the Force, instigate covert opera-
tions and liaise with covert officers on-the-ground. Alongside observing covert officers
in situ, we also observed the daily work of the Covert Investigation Authorities Bureau
(CIAB) and Force Intelligence Branch (FIB). In all, a wide range of covert policing
activity was observed and this phase of the fieldwork produced over 1,000 hours of
observations. Finally, we conducted in-depth interviews with key actors involved in covert
policing. Twenty-two interviews were carried out with police managers and field officers
from Summershire Police, as well as representatives from the Office of Surveillance
Commissioners, Ministry of Justice, the National Policing Improvements Agency and
Liberty.4
It is no exaggeration to state that we had an unprecedented insight into the hidden
and secretive world of covert policing. Throughout the fieldwork, we took various steps
to secure the data and ensure the anonymity of individual officers and the personal
details of those people under police surveillance. Fieldnotes were written up in a man-
ner that prevents officers and the subjects of surveillance being identified. In reproduc-
ing the fieldnotes in this article, we have changed some details, including the names of
covert units and individual officers. We have also tried to be sympathetic to the desire
of the police to protect the methods and craft that are essential to covert work.5

From The Field: Covert Policing Culture

In examining the working culture of covert police officers, we have been guided by an
overarching concern to understand how officers adapt to a role that demands a break
with, and inversion of, the logics of a uniformed and visible policing presence. In so
doing, three organizing themes are germane: (1) On Becoming Invisible, which exam-
ines how officers learn to reconcile their transition from a visible spectacle to carrying

4
The latter is an independent campaigning organization working to protect human rights and civil liberties in England and
Wales.
5
For a detailed account of the methodology behind this study—and the various challenges we encountered—see Mac
Giollabhui et al. (forthcoming).

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 LOFTUS ET AL.

out an extremely hidden and secretive form of policing; (2) Secrecy, Lying and Mistaken
Identities, which explores some of the repercussions and cultural responses emerging
from the need to remain invisible; (3) Operational and Organizational Dilemmas. This
latter theme provides an insight into some of the occupational hazards associated with
covert work. By providing a selection of excerpts from our fieldnotes to illustrate these
themes, our principal aim is to provide an ethnographic picture of the inner world of
covert policing and ultimately enhance understandings of policing culture.

On becoming invisible

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As noted, covert policing is an exceptionally hidden, concealed practice. Above all,
covert officers are no longer visible symbols of state authority and are exempt from
many aspects of their previously uniformed existence—such as face-to-face interac-
tions with the public, taking part in high-visibility, public reassurance exercises, and
the bureaucratic commitment of routine paperwork. The legal landscape also shifts
dramatically in that covert officers are often ‘dealing’ with suspects who are unaware
that they are the targets of police interest, or are operating in an environment in which
the safeguards that typically accompany overt investigations are absent—including, for
instance, those which are present in stop and search interactions, or when a person is
subjected to a formal police interview. How, then, do those who carry out this invisible
form of policing both understand and manage the peculiar demands of their role? How
do officers reconcile their transition from a visible spectacle to an invisible presence?
In examining this transitional identity, we do not wish to make a hard-and-fast dis-
tinction between uniformed officers on the one hand and covert officers on the other.
Rather, it seems to us that there is something of a halfway house along this linear career
route. Many of the covert officers we encountered had gained previous experience on
specialist units, such as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Detective work
offers a chance to taste and practice elements of the non-traditional police role and
even shed aspects of their previously uniformed culture—for example, by wearing plain
clothes and driving unmarked police cars. In the following extract Conor, an operative
from the MST, summed up his transformation in the following manner:
Conor: In many ways, I’m not a police officer anymore. Not really. I don’t wear a uniform, I don’t
arrest anybody, and I don’t have any paperwork to fill in. The only members of the public I come into
contact with are the subjects, and they don’t have a clue I am even there.
Loftus: What is it like to have more of a concealed policing role?
Conor: You become a completely different kind of police. It is very strange, it was like a complete 180
at first, like there was that time I was following a subject. He caught a train and it was absolutely jam-
packed. I was literally touching him, breathing down his neck, but he had no idea I was there, or had
been following him for the last three days. I felt like I knew him. I had to stop myself from saying,
‘Right, you’re nicked’.

Several officers we interviewed were acutely aware of their special position within the
police organization, claiming that officers on covert units were more elite and career
savvy. Highly committed to the covert units, one member expressed a desire to never
return to ordinary police duties, feeling both apart from—and superior—to other uni-
formed police officers. In contrast, another officer once attempted to leave his covert
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 WORKING CULTURE OF COVERT POLICING

role and return to his uniformed job, but was unable to revert back. Part of the chal-
lenge was that he no longer felt comfortable dealing with members of the public in an
overt manner. Insofar as a covert officer is removed from the more sociable aspects
of policing—such as chatting with the public at community meetings—the criminal
environment is inescapable. The key role of the covert officer is to observe, follow and
gather evidence or intelligence on those suspected of (sometimes very serious) crime.
In a similar vein to their uniformed counterparts, covert officers accordingly developed
a strong identification with catching criminals. In the police culture literature, it is well
known that the moral imperative uniformed officers have to ‘fight crime’ can encour-
age the police to display their coercive character during interactions (Holdaway 1983;

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Marks 2005). Yet, in much contrast, covert officers go out of their way to avoid any kind
of interaction with their publics—even if they witness crimes being committed. Indeed,
from the perspective of the newly recruited officer, a particularly aberrant aspect of cov-
ert policing is having to observe people committing crime, but without directly inter-
vening. Much of the time, the institutional rationale behind this is to let minor crimes
go unchallenged in the pursuit of obtaining evidence of a more serious offence. To be
sure, operating covertly requires officers in certain scenarios to break the law them-
selves and do other morally conflicting actions (Marx 1988; Ross 2007), but passively
watching crimes being committed goes against the grain of the basic police mindset.
The following fieldnote describes an MST operation mounted against two subjects who
were believed to be planning a robbery at a local store in the next two days:

At the briefing, the Inspector made it clear that she only wanted the subjects arrested for something
worthwhile. She told the operatives that she wanted the ‘big catch’ which would put the subjects in
prison for a long time, and so instructed officers to let slide any lesser offences they observed.

[…] Subject 1 enters a flat. Carl relays the address back to other operatives, and explains the prop-
erty is known for drugs. Carl surmises that the owner deals drugs to Subject 1, who is a heroin user.
Although the police strongly suspect that Subject 1 had just purchased a class-A drug, they did not
act on this information.

[Later] Subject 2 stands in an alleyway smoking and scratching his head. Within minutes, a dark blue
car pulls up and a drugs transaction takes place. This was observed by two of the operatives but, like
before, no action was taken. Jimmy, a new recruit on the MST, is hugely frustrated at the prospect of
letting this slide and tells me he is ‘itching’ to turn the Subject over and arrest him on the spot for the
drugs - but he is acutely aware that he could blow his identity and the operation if he does.

Another officer, Elliot, also talked about having to suppress his ‘instinct’ to arrest those
he witnessed committing offences. For veteran covert officers, however, passively watching
minor crimes being committed and letting them go becomes an obvious choice for what
they consider to be the greater good. It becomes an ordinary and accepted part of the job.
In general, covert officers learn to embrace a far more comprehensive perspective of polic-
ing in which emphasis was given to achieving a strategic, longer-term view of tackling the
crime problem. Aiden, an officer on the TST, also summed this up in the following terms:
It was drummed into me from the start; it’s [covert policing] about making cases, for the future
return. You make sure all your ducks are lined up. We operate much more intelligently than the
plods on uniform; they are bulls in a China shop, falling over themselves to get as many arrests as
they can. We are smart. We are all about the stealth, doing things intelligently.

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In British policing at least the mantra of ‘policing by consent’ has always been grounded
in the idea of preventive policing through a uniformed presence, rather than a secret
police presence (Banton 1964). A cornerstone of this, as we have suggested, is the direct
interaction that takes place between officers and members of the public. In the covert
policing arena, however, operatives must conceal their role from both suspected offend-
ers and neutral members of the public. In order to blend into the landscape they police,
covert officers develop an intimate understanding of what looks out of place in the social
environment (Loftus and Goold 2012). Yet, by remaining hidden from view, the covert
police officers often found themselves becoming observers of the larger human condi-
tion. In their daily work, officers observe the routine—and occasionally most intimate—

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aspects of their subjects’ lives. With such involvement in the everyday existence of those
under surveillance, it is important to understand how the police come to imagine their
targets. For the most part, officers had a preconceived notion of the culpability of those
they were charged to watch; they were ‘guilty’ and the purpose of the investigation was
to obtain the evidence that would prove their guilt. The process by which covert data are
gathered and shared is mundane and bureaucratic, with officers approaching the life
of a subject in a largely detached and professional manner. This may not be surprising
given that, through their work, officers learn to depersonalize the people they frequently
encounter (Loftus 2009). Indeed, the process of ‘othering’ was incredibly important to
the day-to-day functioning of covert work; it was used as a rhetorical strategy of exclu-
sion made in the interests of a unified collective identity among the covert officers. One
tendency of the covert officer is to compartmentalize what they do and move on to the
next surveillance job. But that is not to say they are not interested in finding out ‘what
happened afterwards’—for instance, whether the convicted paedophile they followed to
a childrens’ play area ended up back in prison for breaching his conditions.
While the legality of particular covert operations might be the subject of much dis-
cussion and consideration amongst officers and their superiors, the morality of covert
policing was never in doubt, and officers did not betray a sense of surveillance operations
going too far. In contrast to undercover officers who spend a great deal of time interact-
ing with targets in the field, and who become engrossed in, and occasionally sympathetic
to, the lives of those they are investigating (Marx 1988; Ross 2008), the covert police offic-
ers we observed tended to objectify their targets. In part, this took the form of reducing
the subject of surveillance to a set of indicators, as revealed in the surveillance logs. It was
commonplace for officers to record meticulous accounts of the movements of the sub-
ject, their physical appearance and clothing, the weather, and descriptions of any person
the subject came into contact with.6 This objectification was a result of the passive and
‘distanced’ nature of the surveillance we observed. For the officers involved, thinking
about and conducting surveillance becomes routine, going by almost unquestioned. The
following extract touches on this and is from time spent with an officer responsible for
creatively concealing and fitting surveillance devices inside everyday objects:
Daniel took me into what he called his ‘laboratory’, a large room filled with everyday items such as
hoovers, teddy bears, lamps, bird houses, baby seats, fake garden plants and other greenery. I quickly
realise that these were all used, in some way or another, to conceal audio and visual devices. In fact,
I  recognised the yellow hoover and black and white lamp which Oliver had once used during an

6
In covert policing legislation and practice, the term ‘collateral intrusion’ generally refers to the unintentional gathering
of intelligence material—for example, any background conversation recorded when recording the subject of the surveillance.

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 WORKING CULTURE OF COVERT POLICING

investigation into distraction burglaries. […] I asked him where all the paraphernalia comes from;
he explains, ‘garden centres for the outdoor surveillance work, but we tend to do a lot of Ikea trips
as well. We buy all sorts from Ikea. It has got to the point that when I am out shopping with the wife,
I see items and think, ‘That would be great for concealing a camera or whatever’.

In sum, when joining the covert world, officers have to adapt to the demands of their
peculiar role—chief of which is to engage in practices that are hidden from the general
public and sections of the police organization. While they collate what can be incredibly
pertinent evidence or intelligence about criminal activity, they are nevertheless exempt
from experiencing the ‘glory’ or recognition for their contribution. While there may
well be a belief among officers that they are undertaking the ugly side of policing, they

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take pride in the belief that what they do contributes to the wider success of a case.

Secrecy, lying and mistaken identities

Adherence to a strict ‘code’ of secrecy has been widely noted among police organizations
(Westley 1970; Crank 2004). It serves several purposes, including protecting officers from
internal organizational oversight and insulating them from the external scrutiny of the
public. For us, one interesting aspect of police secrecy and solidarity is that covert policing
is hidden from both the public and other police officers. While studies have shown how
officers hoard their pieces of information about local suspects (Rubenstein 1979), sharing
intelligence within and between police forces is vigorously encouraged within the contem-
porary policing landscape (Bacon 2013). Yet, for obvious reasons, distributing intelligence
is much more controlled in the closed arena of covert policing, since its members operate
in conditions of unprecedented secrecy. These additional demands create an intense envi-
ronment leading to the development of what one officer in our study called ‘incessant par-
anoia’ about what and with whom information could be shared. Extending this further, in
the personal lives of the officers we encountered, some friends and family were not even
aware of their exact role within the police. This inability to share work details encouraged
the practice of lying to people. While many police officers lie occasionally (Manning 1974;
Loftus 2009), covert police lie pervasively. At the same time, cover stories created during an
operation could be subject to visual and verbal challenges. Many officers recounted stories
when they have had to skilfully evade awkward questions from members of the public in
order to protect their status. James, an officer involved in conducting ‘sting’ operations,
summed up this tendency to lie in the following terms:
When you join the job, from the word go, they train you as a police officers to be honest and sincere.
But when you get to the covert world, they train you to be a liar.

The centrality of deception and lying even extended to members of the research team,
notably Loftus during one of her stints with the LSU. She had spent the day with Alf,
who had been tasked with picking up several of the ‘trap cars’ from various locations,
replacing the batteries in the covert cameras and then re-parking them at different
locations.7 As the extract shows, the ability to lie was crucial to protecting the opera-
tion in hand:

7
Trap cars are unmarked vehicles parked with high-value items (e.g. laptop or satellite navigation system) deliberately left on
show in areas where there has been a spate of vehicle thefts or break-ins.

Page 9 of 17
 LOFTUS ET AL.

The plan was to drive this car to a different location in the countryside and swap it with another car
that had been parked for the last two weeks. We drove for over half an hour before arriving at a typi-
cal English village. Just outside a large house, a Volkswagen Golf was parked on the side of the road.
Colin gave me the keys and told me to get into the passenger seat. He was going to park the car we
were currently in about half a mile away, and then walk back to me. Despite a Satellite Navigation
System being placed on display, the vehicle did not show any signs of forced entry. Within five min-
utes, a man in his 50s wearing a suit came over to the car and knocked loudly on my side of the win-
dow. I wound it down and he asked me sternly if this was my car. Not wanting to give the game away,
I had no option but to lie. I said that it was my car and asked why he wanted to know. He asked why it
had been parked outside his house for the last two weeks, telling me that he had rang the police and

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reported it as stolen. I acted surprised and replied that my husband and I had been away on holiday
and had left the car here because we had friends in the village. I added that my husband would be
back in a moment if he wanted to chat more about it, but that I could assure him the car was not
stolen. He accepted my story and then became friendly. When Colin returned to the car and drove
off I told him what had happened. He was impressed, saying I had done well to lie. […] This incident
was retold to several of the officers and afforded me some respect within the team.8

A related consequence of the need for secrecy—and deception—was an occasional

failure or misunderstanding in coordination within the police (see also Marx 1988). At
the mundane level, cases of mistaken identity involved local uniformed police respond-
ing to reports of suspicious persons who were in fact conducting surveillance. One such
instance was recounted by Jack, a GIO with over fifteen years covert experience:
[…] everybody started sneering and telling me to ask Jack what happened last year when he was try-
ing to establish an Observational Post at a house in North Town. Jack eventually relayed the incident:
he had gone to a house to speak to the owners about using their back bedroom to position a covert
device near the window in order to record the comings and goings of a subject who lived behind the
address. But, when Jack turned up, the owners thought he was a distraction burglar and phoned the
police. [At this point the others blame Jack’s bent nose, large ears and stocky frame for making him
look dodgy]. Within moments, five police cars pulled up and uniformed officers were shouting at
Jack to step away from the house. Jack didn’t want to confess too much detail about why he was there,
but managed to discreetly show his police card to the sergeant, who rapidly called the patrols away.

In Summershire, covert police officers were largely male and almost exclusively white.
Yet, despite their small numbers, women and minority ethnic groups were nevertheless
highly valued. It was reasoned that using those officers greatly extended the operational
scope of covert surveillance. A story often recounted included an operation in which
a female officer infiltrated a ‘Hells Angels’ gang while wearing a covert camera con-
cealed in fake pregnancy bump. One Inspector from the MST suggested that recruiting
officers from a minority background would enhance operational logistics since women
and ethnic minority officers may bring a different perspective on situations and pro-
vide a more holistic view of the overall hazards involved in an operation. Likewise,
social and cultural diversity amongst covert officers was believed to extend the options
for the recruitment and cultivation of a variety of Covert Human Intelligence Sources
(‘informants’). Above all, it was believed that the presence of minority officers in covert

8
Police ethnographers typically encounter many potential risks and ethical quandaries, with the question of how far one
participates being particularly problematic. For a further discussion of how these issues were addressed in our fieldwork, see
Mac Giollabhui et al. (forthcoming).

Page 10 of 17
 WORKING CULTURE OF COVERT POLICING

situations would appear more ‘natural’ in certain situations. This commonsense logic
was also borne out during the fieldwork. In the following extract, a female MST officer
named Betsi was dispatched to follow a woman suspected of drugs offences:
Betsi was well regarded within the team, and was often touted as their ‘secret weapon’. As one of the
few female surveillance officers I have encountered, I would challenge anyone to guess her occupa-
tion. With black curly hair and wearing a long flowery skirt and knit jumper, Betsi is approximately
55 years of age. Her appearance, in other words, could not be further away than that of a covert police
officer. […] Throughout the shift, the subject entered a variety of places accessible only to women—a
dressing room at a department store and ladies toilets—but was all the while followed by Betsi who
blended seamlessly into the gendered environment.

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The shortage of women and minority ethnic officers working on covert policing teams
was peculiar since, at least at the level of rhetoric, they were highly valued. Yet, it is
important to note that such groups were prized for their usefulness—in other words, for
their ability to penetrate criminal environments and thereby extend the surveillance
and crime-control capabilities of the operation.
Here, we have examined some of the repercussions of and cultural responses for cov-
ert officers as they attempt to manage the basic need to remain invisible. Maintaining
secrecy and lying is at the forefront of covert work and is viewed as justified and neces-
sary because truthful alternatives are not an option once the covert route has been set
in motion. Yet, as Manning (1974) points out, the analysis of police deception is of great
significance since it lays bare the ambiguous relationship between state agents and their
publics.

Operational and organizational dilemmas

Being identified—or getting ‘burned’—is a constant source of concern and anxiety for
covert officers. Like the telling and retelling of stories within the uniformed occupa-
tional culture (Shearing and Ericson 1991), tales of those rare occasions when covert
officers have been compromised served as an influential source of information among
peers. As the following extract—relating to the surveillance of a suspected burglar—
shows, even the possibility of being burned can be enough to halt the operation:
Soon the subject is on the move in his truck and we follow, at one point overtaking so another surveil-
lance vehicle can take our place. But it looks as though the subject is now too far behind us so Jake
reverses into an empty driveway and sits in wait. The road is heavily congested, but the truck edges
closer. When it is parallel to the driveway we are in, the subject looks directly at us and stares for a
moment. I get a clear view of his face and can even hear the song playing on his radio. After what
seems like minutes, but is probably only seconds, the truck is on its way. Jake murmurs ‘Shit, did we
just get burned’? Dave thinks not, but he cannot be sure so contacts the operational commander who
advises them to step down and clear the area.

Likewise, chance events may potentially interfere with the credibility of an operation.
One officer involved in a sting operation, which included selling ‘stolen’ goods out of
the back of a van, recalled being approached by an acquaintance he had not seen for a
number of years, but who nevertheless addressed him by his real name and asked him
when he had left the police force. Another—perhaps more obvious—area of conten-
tion for officers is when a subject is lost during a follow. Underpinning the anxieties
Page 11 of 17
 LOFTUS ET AL.

felt by covert officers in their daily work is the internally imposed pressure to succeed,
resulting from the expense and highly organized nature of covert operations. In this
respect, officers are also under strain to ensure they capture compelling surveillance
footage during an operation.
A key characteristic of traditional police culture is that officers informally divide inci-
dents into those that are valued while regarding others as ‘rubbish’ (Holdaway 1983).
This sorting was evident in the outlook of covert policing, where officers came to view
certain operations as ‘proper jobs’, and by extension, only some subjects as ‘proper
criminals’. The next passage taken from a conversation with an MST officer demon-
strates this, also showing his scepticism of the broader organizational process of select-

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ing subjects for surveillance:
We had been sitting in the surveillance car for over three hours now, simply waiting for the subject to
leave his house. Shaun was getting frustrated and began to complain:
Shaun: This subject has been lauded as the most formidable drug dealer in the country, but he has
hardly left the house and only goes out to the supermarket with his mother! Sometimes you’ll find
that the OIC [Officer in Charge] exaggerates the criminal status of the subject in order to justify the
surveillance tactics, but then when we get put on their arse, they never leave their house.
Loftus: But I suppose the surveillance may also be used to substantiate the innocence of the subject?
In the sense that they are not associating with so-and-so, or dealing drugs?
Shaun: I  wouldn’t go that far. If you’re put under surveillance, there’s no smoke without fire. But
there is a difference between a proper, decent criminal and someone who is small fish, but who they
put under surveillance simply to justify their own existence.

For the covert officer, an authentic policing experience meant surveilling those involved
in serious offences, namely major organized crime. In practice, however, the mind-
set and techniques of covert policing are also routinely mounted against lower-level
street crimes, such as drug-taking and vehicle crime. Highly trained covert officers will
inevitably find themselves tracking petty criminals for days, and sometimes weeks, on
end. While mounting a covert operation takes a great deal of organization, conduct-
ing the surveillance involved much waiting around, with officers becoming bored and
frustrated in the long periods between bursts of movement. As a result, a vibe of ‘all-
dressed-up-and-nowhere-to-go’ permeated many of the shifts we observed.
One of the aims of our research was to understand how the new regulatory regime
had affected the way covert operations are planned, carried out and reviewed. This is
important since the transparency in covert policing policy, codes of practice, legal and
ethical standards envisaged by the introduction of legislation, such as the RIPA 2000
and Human Rights Act 1998, may sit uncomfortably with an agency whose raison d’etre
is to operate in secret. The regulatory regime posed several dilemmas for officers. We
found that the RIPA 2000 had an important, and somewhat contradictory, effect on
the coordination of covert policing processes. At an organizational level, the desire
to demonstrate the necessity—and particularly the proportionality—of covert surveil-
lance had prompted Summershire Police to plan, deploy and manage covert resources
in a significantly more transparent and formal manner. Summershire had reorganized
its internal departments and operational strategies to accommodate the Act. We very
much noted a culture of debate regarding the why and how of covert operations. The con-
ditions of the RIPA encouraged officers across the spectrum of different covert units to
critically debate—sometimes in a very heated manner—the most effective way to carry
Page 12 of 17
 WORKING CULTURE OF COVERT POLICING

out surveillance within the legal requirements. Officers were pressed to be more con-
siderate—even risk averse—when planning and seeking authorization for covert opera-
tions. Various persons within the organization claimed expertise of the RIPA, thereby
serving to further encourage the culture of debate and competition between internal
experts. Yet, while the reflexivity shown by officers during the planning phase suggests
a new, critical way of approaching covert operations, there was nevertheless a broad
perception that the RIPA was solely designed to impede police surveillance (see also
Bullock and Johnson 2012). In particular, it was believed to have led to a considerable
and unnecessary increase in the bureaucratic burden placed on officers and served to
‘slow down’ operational activities. During the planning phase of an operation, the first

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step for many officers was to seek approval for the most intrusive means possible. In the
following incident, Edward, a seasoned GIO, attends an operational conference:
The officers gathered to discuss two men who were ‘waging a campaign of criminality’ over the local,
mainly rural, area. Edward explained to me that his role was twofold: firstly, it was to act as the human
face of the vast intelligence gathered on the men, and secondly, he was to advise on any plans to employ
covert capability. […] The meeting began with an Inspector from the local policing area who gave an
overview of the men and their criminal activities, which revolved around the theft of farm equipment,
distraction burglaries, drugs and gun dealing, and illegal horse trading. The Inspector stated at the
outset that he wanted to ‘crush’ the subjects and so the rest of the meeting involved running over the
potential covert ways to gather the evidence needed to send them to prison. He wanted to ‘get kit in’
- this included covert cameras and audio equipment inside their homes, as well as trackers on their
vehicles. The Inspector and other officers reeled off a whole shopping list of surveillance methods.

At this point, Edward butted in. He explained that he understood the problems for the area, but was
not convinced that this battalion of kit would ‘satisfy the criteria’—by this he meant the serious crime
criteria needed for intrusive surveillance under the RIPA legislation. The Inspector became annoyed
and said, ‘Well, if RIPA doesn’t consider nicking nearly £20k from an elderly couple as serious, then
I don’t know what is’. Edward agreed, but reasserted the point. But he did advise the group that they
should begin with a Directed Surveillance Authority (DSA) for mobile and static surveillance and, if
that did not yield the results they wanted, then the failed DSA would ‘look better’ when they apply to
the Chief for an Intrusive Surveillance Authority (ISA). Likewise, he advised that if they ‘chucked in
decent intelligence about the gun dealing’ that would strengthen the application. Edward was with-
out doubt the calm voice in the noisy room of demands for intrusive surveillance. […] Back in the car,
Edward reflected on the tone of the conference: ‘Intrusive surveillance should never be seen as the
standard. I know the Inspector; he is a great bloke who loves his job, but he is the kind of officer that
would drain the English Channel if he thought there was a stolen car at the bottom.

Over-zealous requests for surveillance approval were also often reigned in by the CIAB
but, as the extract shows, also by police officers from within the covert world. The ten-
dency of officers to request the most intrusive means speaks to the proverbial sense of
mission identified in much previous research, a residue of which is an exaggerated pref-
erence for fervent policing tactics (Marks 2005). In covert policing, this was encouraged
by a broader discourse circulating within the culture that criminals were becoming too
savvy and so clandestine methods were the best—indeed only—way to catch them.
From our observations, we can say with some confidence that requests for surveillance
were rarely turned down. This is because authorizing officers—usually at the level of
Inspector and above—are also grappling with the renowned ‘cover your arse’ mentality,
Page 13 of 17
 LOFTUS ET AL.

which permeates increasingly risk conscious police organizations (Van Maanen 1978).
In many ways, the RIPA could in fact enable and facilitate covert policing. In a simi-
lar vein to the study by Bullock and Johnson (2012), we too found that the legislation
had become integrated into the police organization as a series of bureaucratic stages
requiring conformity by officers. Each process was designed to show that officers were
meeting their obligations and providing a paper trail. While the internal bureaucratic
procedures could be time consuming, they were nevertheless used by officers to legiti-
mize their practices. In other words, the RIPA essentially confirmed the legality of covert
surveillance and became a framework through which officers justified and documented
their decision making, thereby protecting them from internal and external criticism.

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In part, this finding verifies the fears of some critics who insist that passage of the RIPA
2000 actually leads to more surveillance and, just as egregiously, more surveillance of
relatively trivial offences (Sharpe 2002). There was also some question as to whether
officers had developed a greater respect for the human rights of the people they sought
to place under surveillance, most notably in relation to the privacy of subjects, as set
out in Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998. Mike, an officer from the LSU, alluded
to this in the following terms:
The police nick [arrest] people all the time, sometimes for the most trivial of offences, and think
nothing of depriving them of their liberty. Why, then, would we worry about depriving somebody of
their privacy, particularly if there is good intelligence that this person will commit a crime?

Occasionally, a breakdown of discipline and communication occurred between those

who conducted surveillance in the field, and those who were responsible for the broader
investigation and authorization process. Recorded periods of unlawful surveillance are
an example of this and demonstrate the chasm that can occur between two conflicting
cultures within the organization:9
Another case concerned an incident where, over the course of a year, a man would go out naked into
his garden and masturbate in full view of the other houses surrounding him. This happened on a
number of occasions and the police had been called to the address. However, the man would simply
deny it. Steps were taken by the Sergeant to conduct visual surveillance in an attempt to gain the
evidence needed. The application for the DSA was successful and the TST were authorised to install
a covert camera overlooking the garden. The camera was switched on during July and, in December,
images did indeed capture the subject entering his garden naked and masturbating. He was accord-
ingly arrested and charged. However, it soon emerged that the surveillance had only been authorised
for 3 months, and had been cancelled in the September. The TST admitted that they had been made
aware of the cancellation, and instructed to take down the camera, but that due to staff shortages
had failed to abort the surveillance. This essentially meant that the police had unlawfully captured
the man committing the act.

Clearly, within complex organizations such as the police, bureaucratic errors such
as this are perhaps understandable. Yet, as we can see, the data that are gathered
and stored are highly personalized, detailed and, in some cases, extremely intrusive.
While covert officers confront occupational hazards stemming from their external
policing environment, they likewise have to deflect those in their immediate, internal
setting.

9
In accordance with requirements, these instances of infringement were referred to the OSC.

Page 14 of 17
 WORKING CULTURE OF COVERT POLICING

Concluding Remarks
Covert surveillance is a peculiarly invisible and controversial area of policing, operating
in isolation from the visible street policing that the vast majority of us are so familiar with.
Our aim in this article has been to present a much needed, empirically grounded account
of the working culture of covert policing in the United Kingdom. In beginning to map
this culture, we have drawn upon fieldnote excerpts taken from our time spent with cov-
ert officers engaged in the targeted surveillance of human subjects. In particular, we have
sought to understand how officers adapt to a peculiar role that demands a break with,
and inversion of, the logics of a uniformed and visible policing presence. By illustrating
this with vivid descriptions of how officers plan and carry out surveillance operations, we

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hope that this article will ultimately enhance understandings of policing culture.
Earlier, we mentioned that recent work on police culture supports the contention
that there are possible subcultures contained within what is usually presented as main-
stream police culture. Since covert policing operates outside of the realm of ordinary
policing, the question remains as to whether we should recognize its inner features as
fundamentally distinctive or simply as covert officers demonstrating interesting sources
of variation, but whose features are ultimately linked to the mainstream police culture.
In thinking about this, we are reminded of the important work of Holdaway (1979)
who discusses the possibility of core and peripheral features of police culture. What we
found is that while covert officers emulate familiar aspects of police sentiments and
practices, they also depart from these in important ways. It is such differences we wish
to tease out here. In particular, we wish to emphasize that being a covert police opera-
tive is a paradoxical experience. One the one hand, it is a career that is revered within
policing mythology. Yet, on the other hand, it is also a job that could be regarded as a
‘dirty work’ (Hughes 1951: 319) since officers are assigned to carry out work tasks that
‘run counter to the more heroic of our moral conceptions’. Certain key features of
covert police working life—for instance, the normalized necessity to lie to people and
engage in scenarios that lure people into committing crime—are particularly taint-
ing. Within the organization, covert officers operate on the fringes, are resented by
their uniformed colleagues and live in a heightened sense of anxiety for fear about
revealing their identity. While they collate what can be significant evidence or intel-
ligence about criminal activity, they are nevertheless exempt from experiencing the
prestige for their contribution. Finally, since conducting covert surveillance involves
much waiting around, officers regularly gear themselves up for something that may not
happen. These frustrations, we suggest, foster the development of the workgroup cul-
ture. The cultural expressions we have documented in this article clearly arise from the
key differences in police logics, remit and method of covert work. More importantly,
they potentially reveal facets of a culture that operates in isolation from what might be
regarded as the clichéd cultural expressions of uniformed police that have long been
the focus of much scholarship. There is a craft to covert policing, which speaks directly
to aspects of culture; officers have a shared network of understanding, even including
their own vocabulary to which mainstream police are excluded.
Having established that covert officers work within an operational milieu remote from
that of their uniformed counterparts, the question then arises as to what this means for
our understanding of policing culture more generally. In particular, the social distribution
of secret knowledge that we identified—not just in relation to suspects and surveillance

Page 15 of 17
 LOFTUS ET AL.

targets but also in relation to other police officers—points to a distinctly segmented police
organization. If, as we suggested at the beginning of this article, it is the case that the
use of covert methods is only likely to increase over time, then it is reasonable to expect
that the subculture of covert policing will become progressively influential within police
organizations. Thus, the emphasis on secrecy and deception raises real questions about the
likelihood that regulatory regimes such as those established by RIPA 2000 provide an effec-
tive safeguard against over-zealous covert policing and the routine violation of individual
privacy rights. Although these are questions that are beyond the scope of this article, it is
clear that law-makers and regulatory agencies need to consider the unique characteris-
tics of covert policing culture when considering how best to balance the legitimate aims

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of the police with the need to preserve basic civil liberties and human rights. We would
again emphasize that while covert investigative methods have traditionally been directed
at more serious crimes, the mentalities and techniques of covert policing are also routinely
mounted against lower-level street crimes (see also O’Neill and Loftus 2013; Sharpe 2002).
This extension of covert surveillance from the margins to the mainstay of policing activity is
no doubt influenced by external pressure from the state to manage crime more efficiently,
but has nevertheless facilitated the expansion of a new domain of professional power and
knowledge-work to policing—the central remit of which is to open up private lives to sur-
veillance. Our research revealed the mundane character of covert surveillance, which plays
out in the culture as officers conduct their intimate work in an automatic way, reinforcing
the dispassionately bureaucratic and unreflexive nature of data collection and sharing.

Funding
This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council
(RES-062-23-2212).

Acknowledgements
Versions of this paper were presented at the University of Sheffield, Keele University
and the University of Gothenburg. We would like to express our thanks to all those who
provided very helpful and constructive comments at these seminars. The authors would
also like to thank the anonymous reviewers at the BJC for their supportive comments.

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