From a Visible Spectacle to an Invisible Presence

The Working Culture of Covert Policing

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8401944
AutoresBethan Loftus (0000-0002-5346-1332, University of Manchester, autor correspondente), Benjamin Goold, Benjamin J Goold, Shane Mac Giollabhuí (0000-0001-8751-5880)
Ano2016
Volume56
Fascículo4
Páginas629-645
Data de publicação2016-07-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe British Journal of Criminology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0007-0955 • E-ISSN: 1464-3529
EditoraOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/bjc/azv076
OpenAlexW2258889384
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas28
Referências citadas18

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 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.

Covert · Criminology · Ethnography · Focus (optics) · Isolation (microbiology) · Linguistics · Organizational culture · Political science · Public relations · Scholarship · Sociology · Anthropology · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Law · Policing Practices and Perceptions