Editing Covert operation (section)

==History==
Law enforcement has carried out undercover work in a variety of ways throughout the course of history, but [[Eugène François Vidocq]] (1775–1857) developed the first organized (though informal) undercover program in France in the early 19th century, from the late [[First French Empire|First Empire]] through most of the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Bourbon Restoration]] period of 1814 to 1830. At the end of 1811 Vidocq set up an informal plainclothes unit, the ''[[Brigade]] de la [[Sûreté]]'' ("Security Brigade"), which was later converted to a security police unit under the [[Prefecture of Police]]. The Sûreté initially had eight, then twelve, and, in 1823, twenty employees. One year later, it expanded again, to 28 secret agents. In addition, there were eight people who worked secretly for the Sûreté, but instead of a salary, they received licences for gambling halls. A major portion of Vidocq's subordinates comprised ex-criminals like himself.<ref>{{cite book|last= Hodgetts|first= Edward A.|title= Vidocq. A Master of Crime|year= 1928|publisher= Selwyn & Blount|location= London}}</ref>

Vidocq personally trained his agents, for example, in selecting the correct disguise based on the kind of job. He himself went out hunting for criminals too. His memoirs are full of stories about how he outsmarted crooks by pretending to be a beggar or an old [[cuckold]]. At one point, he even simulated his own death.<ref>{{citation|surname1= Morton, James|title= The First Detective: The Life and Revolutionary Times of Vidocq |publisher= Ebury Press|isbn= 978-0-09-190337-4|language= de|year= 2004 }}</ref>

In England, the first modern [[police]] force was established in 1829 by Sir [[Robert Peel]] as the [[Metropolitan Police]] of London. From the start, the force occasionally employed plainclothes undercover detectives, but there was much public anxiety that its powers were being used for the purpose of political repression. In part due to these concerns, the 1845 official ''Police Orders'' required all undercover operations to be specifically authorized by the [[superintendent (police)|superintendent]]. It was only in 1869 that Police commissioner [[Edmund Henderson]] established a formal plainclothes detective division.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wIf5w6BJOmQC|title= Historical Dictionary of Law Enforcement|author= Mitchel P. Roth, James Stuart Olson|year= 2001|publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group|page= 271|isbn= 978-0-313-30560-3}}</ref>

[[File:Special Irish Branch.jpg|thumb|left|[[Special Branch]] detectives on an undercover operation at the [[London Docks]], 1911]]
The first [[Special Branch]] of police was the [[Special Irish Branch]], formed as a section of the [[Criminal Investigation Department]] of the [[Metropolitan Police|MPS]] in London in 1883, initially to combat the bombing campaign that the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]] had begun a few years earlier. This pioneering branch became the first to receive training in [[counter-terrorism]] techniques.

Its name was changed to [[Special Branch (Metropolitan Police)|Special Branch]] as it had its remit gradually expanded to incorporate a general role in counter terrorism, combating foreign subversion and infiltrating [[organized crime]]. [[Law enforcement agency|Law enforcement agencies]] elsewhere established similar Branches.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1fqAZzIDlgYC|title=Dictionary of Policing|author1=Tim Newburn|author1-link = Tim Newburn|author2=Peter Neyroud|author2-link = Peter Neyroud|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|page=262|isbn=978-1-134-01155-1}}</ref>

In the United States, a similar route was taken when the [[New York City Police Department]] under [[New York City Police Commissioner|police commissioner]] [[William McAdoo (New Jersey)|William McAdoo]] established the Italian Squad in 1906 to combat rampant crime and intimidation in the poor Italian neighborhoods.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OB0wOgBbHHkC|title= Italian Americans in Law Enforcement|author= Anne T. Romano|year= 2010|publisher= Xlibris Corporation|page= 33|isbn= 978-1-4535-5882-9}}</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain= yes|date= January 2018}} Various federal agencies began their own undercover programs shortly afterwards – [[Charles Joseph Bonaparte]] founded the Bureau of Investigation, the forerunner of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], in 1908.<ref>Marx, G. (1988). Undercover: Police Surveillance in America. Berkeley: [[University of California Press]]</ref><ref name="Romano2010">{{cite book|author=Anne T. Romano|title=Italian Americans in Law Enforcement|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OB0wOgBbHHkC&pg=PA33|access-date= 30 August 2013|date= 11 November 2010|publisher= Xlibris Corporation|isbn= 978-1-4535-5882-9|pages= 33–}}
</ref>

[[Secret police]] forces in the Eastern Bloc also used undercover operatives.<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Shelley
 | first1 = Louise
 | author-link1 = Louise Shelley
 | chapter = Soviet Undercover Work
 | editor1-last = Fijnaut
 | editor1-first = Cyrille
 | editor2-last = Marx
 | editor2-first = Gary T.
 | editor2-link = Gary T. Marx
 | title = Undercover: Police Surveillance in Comparative Perspective
 | date = 12 October 1995
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TcUkI8A6QW0C
 | location = The Hague
 | publisher = Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
 | publication-date = 1995
 | page = 166
 | isbn = 9789041100153
 | access-date = 3 December 2020
| quote = For most of the Soviet period, the undercover work of the secret police was directed at [...] potential enemies of the state. Particularly in the Stalinist period, a vast network of informers existed throughout the country [...]. Although approximately one out of ten individuals were acknowledged informers, most of the population was compromised in some way through their cooperation with the secret police.
}}</ref>
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