It comes from a gross misunderstanding of police entrapment and scriptwriters wanting a situation to create tension and drama where they normally wouldn't be any, or at least, nowhere near the same amount. I can understand the urge to do this as any writer's job, first and foremost, is to tell a story and that takes precedence over factual information. Unfortunately, a lot of people believe whatever they see or hear, so this idea became part of popular culture.Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sat Feb 19, 2022 4:07 am "Are you a cop?"That's like asking someone you suspect of being a spy "Are you a spy?", or asking a ninja who's infiltrated your castle "Are you a ninja?"
(I'm not comparing cops to spies or ninjas, of course. But I'm currently reading a book about what ninjas actually did - usually spying, reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering, rather than assassination - so that's fresh in my mind).
Seriously ... why would anyone think that's true?Asking someone that you suspect of being an undercover cop if he is a cop is dumb. If he says yes, he's just blown his assignment, and will be lucky if he 'just' gets busted down to pounding the pavement. If he says no, then he could be 'just a civilian', or he could be a cop that's smarter than a mushroom.
The cops won't arrest someone and force them to do anything. They may encourage someone who's giving information or "working with them" to do something dangerous as a way to get leniency when being sentenced by a court. After all, it's not uncommon for people to agree to divulge information in return for a reduced sentence.Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sat Feb 19, 2022 4:07 am As for entrapment ... hmm. Does that mean that if the cops arrest someone and force him to play the part of a drug dealer, in order to attract other dealers and arrest them ... is that entrapment? *wonders* Or is it 'only' unprofessionalism?
Regardless, it wouldn't be entrapment unless they were coerced into doing something illegal they wouldn't normally do and then get arrested themselves for that same act. Like I said, telling a woman to pretend to be a prostitute and then arresting her for that is entrapment; however, arresting a prostitute in an undercover operation isn't entrapment because she's doing what a prostitute does and would be doing that with or without police involvement.
