Entrapment Question

jakedixon2004

I was watching one of those UK cop shows last night and something struck me as odd when I was watching it. There was a 'sting' operation where 2 undercover female cops would try and flag down taxi's, which is apparently illegal over there, in order for them to try and break the law by picking them up.

Now is that entrapment or is it legal?

FreudianSlippers

I know that in the US there is a distinction... essentially if the agent induces the person to commit the crime then it is entrapment, however where the person is going to commit the offence anyway and the agent merely acts as conduit for that crime then it is ok.

The UK seems to have slightly more strict rules on entrapment, but Nottingham City Council v. Amin is the case law that allows police to act as passengers to solicit taxi men. It's essentially relying on the fact that the officer is acting as a conduit for a driver that was going to commit the offence anyway.

jakedixon2004

Thank you for clearing that up. It just seems wrong that the cops can do that.

FreudianSlippers

jakedixon2004 wrote: »

Thank you for clearing that up. It just seems wrong that the cops can do that.

I don't think it's wrong.

The driver would have committed the crime anyway, it's not as if the officer forced the driver to pick him/her up. The driver could have simply continued and not collected the officer.

Now, if the officer acted as if they were distressed (i.e. needed to get to a hospital or something) and the driver stopped to collect them, that could be argued as entrapment as it could not be said that the driver would have stopped to commit the offence but for the actions of the officer.

jakedixon2004

Right, I get you now. Just seemed a bit off to me. Cheers for that

coylemj

jakedixon2004 wrote: »

Thank you for clearing that up. It just seems wrong that the cops can do that.

The alternative is that they pay a civilian to do the job for them in which case the evidence (of the civilian) would be tainted by virtue of the fact that he is carrying out the exercise for payment and could be perceived as having an incentive to succeed because of the opportunity for follow-on work.

Finnbar01

This is disgraceful. I would always stop for a woman even if she didn't look distressed, I just wouldn't be comfortable passing her by.

Bencil Dornay

jakedixon2004 wrote: »

I was watching one of those UK cop shows last night and something struck me as odd when I was watching it. There was a 'sting' operation where 2 undercover female cops would try and flag down taxi's, which is apparently illegal over there, in order for them to try and break the law by picking them up.

Now is that entrapment or is it legal?

Things must be very quiet over there. No real criminals to catch !

Bruthal

Finnbar01 wrote: »

This is disgraceful. I would always stop for a woman even if she didn't look distressed, I just wouldn't be comfortable passing her by.

It seems a bit silly alright. They are using undercover female officers as well, no doubt to entice them into breaking the law more so than an undercover male officer would.

Also, if a woman is now genuinely in distress at sometime, the taxi driver might think twice about helping now.

Finnbar01

robbie7730 wrote: »

It seems a bit silly alright. They are using undercover female officers as well, no doubt to entice them into breaking the law more so than an undercover male officer would.

Also, if a woman is now genuinely in distress at sometime, the taxi driver might think twice about helping now.

Exactly. Imagine a young woman on her own at two in the morning and she now has to walk home because no taxi will pick her up.

This will have unintended consequences. The UK police don't know much about common sense. Thankfully the Gardaí are not up to this stupidity.