NCJ Number
85099
Date Published
1980
Length
149 pages
Annotation
The sale of 'bait' by undercover officers to suspected fences was examined by means of an analysis of a bait-sale project conducted by the police departments of three Arizona cities.
Abstract
In the bait-sale method, police officers pose as burglars and offer to sell suspects goods which have supposedly been stolen. If the targets buy the items, they can be charged with the crime of attempting to receive stolen property. Many jurisdictions cannot use this technique because of constraints imposed by the doctrine of legal impossibility. The Arizona project was organized in 1977 by the police departments of Scottsdale, Mesa, and Tempe. The undercover officers were required to state that the property was stolen on every sale. A total of 91 individuals made at least 1 purchase of bait from the officers in the project. Of these, 74 were referred for prosecution, and charges were filed against 57 suspects. A total of 45 of the defendants were convicted in court; 6 cases are still pending. Police and prosecutors generally agreed on the evidence necessary to prove the elements of attempted receipt of stolen property. The number of sales made to individual targets appeared to be the most important factor affecting decisions to forward cases from prosecution and to file felony charges. Many cases originally filed as felonies were eventually reduced through plea negotiation to open-end offenses, which reverted to misdemeanors upon successful completion of probation. The prevalence of open-end outcomes indicated an apparent lack of agreement between police and prosecutors regarding the bait-sale technique's usefulness. Tables, footnotes, 39 references, and appendixes presenting study data and background information are provided.