POLICE TRAINING: ENTRAPMENT

[Music] one of these men seems to want something badly he's a Narcotics agent but the other man doesn't know it is this a case of [Music] entrapment [Music] n look Joe you got to help me I I mean I got to have this stuff I'm hurting man I'm hurting why pick on me why don't you try kicking that monkey off your back there's lots of places you can go I will I will Joe real soon but they cut me off and right now the only place I can get it from is from you please man look you're my friend I'm begging you okay okay but just this one time okay all right meet me tonight about 10:00 at Sand place okay all right what you have just witnessed is a clear case of entrapment entrapment is a relatively simple legal concept which was unfortunately misnamed with some resulting confusion there's nothing wrong with setting traps but it's generally agreed that those who were charged with the duty of enforcing the law may not instigate crime by implanting criminal ideas in innocent Minds thereby bringing about offenses which otherwise never would have been perpetrated in this case Joe while he may have connections which enable him to obtain illegal drugs is not himself a pusher and the agent's elaborate case against Joe will be thrown out of court on grounds of entrapment now let's play that scene again differently look U Joe sent me he says you're solid you know what do I know look man you can see for yourself I'm hurting just say where and when make it soon all right tonight at Sam's Place about 10:00 and come prepared like 2 bills yeah yeah I got you prepared this time our agent is dealing with a known Pusher true the agent is setting a trap but this is not entrapment The Pusher didn't need much of a push to agree to sell the illegal drugs the law says an offer by an officer or agent to buy drugs does not constitute entrapment there is a clear distinction between inducing a person to do an unlawful act and setting a trap to catch that person in the execution of a plan of his own design an important consideration is the person's own predisposition for the criminal act in other words the courts look at such cases subjectively setting a trap for the unw criminal is all right setting a trap for the unwary non-criminal is not let's look at another [Music] example these girls are out for an evening of fun they're not quite sure they ought to have come here alone [Music] though [Music] [Applause] here our vice squad boys are going a little too far in order to lay a [Music] trap the girls aren't buying at first but those big bills are a little too hard to resist a lot of money that adds up to a case of entrapment now let's play that scene over a little differently [Music] cheers this woman knows what it's all about and what she wants but she'll probably get more than she bargained for like a knight in jail and a fine for [Music] prostitution a final example involving theft should serve to clarify the issue our officer is investigating a series of neighborhood thefts he's not sure which of the gang he's investigating are actually in involved he decides to lay a trap for two of them hey man why so low you look really down I need bread guys and I need a bad Jean's going to go into the hospital and if I don't have the first insurance premium we could be Hawk for the rest of my life why don't you hit Sam for long he makes plenty in this place yeah no way you know Sam he wouldn't lend you sweat on a hot Sunday got about 1/10th of what in that register over there yeah you know you're right you know the rich get richer and the hell with us poor slobs hey say uh how about we help you uh relieve Sam of a little of that extra cash you know just temporarily you could always pay him back you know anonymously later here again a clear case of entra the officer played on the sympathy of the other men and plainly put the idea of the robbery in their minds now let's do that scene again differently hey man you look low how come I need bread man bread don't we all hey how would you like to pull a little Caper with us we need somebody we can uh trust to do some driving and stuff you know this time the idea of committing the crime robbing Sam's Place clearly originated in the minds of the two suspects the officer is merely playing along the law says entrapment is established when the criminal design originates with officials of the government in our examples the narcotics agent the vice squad officers and the detective and they implant in the minds of innocent persons the disposition to commit offenses and induce their commission so that they may prosecute the thing to keep in mind is the point of origin of the Criminal Intent when it starts in the mind of the officer and the accused is lured into committing the crime in order to prosecute him no conviction may be had there are many examples of action by government agents informers which warrant a jury instruction on entrapment buying beer for the defendant just before Commission of the crime promising defendant extravagant sums of money playing on the defendant's sympathy in order to get him to commit the crime Furnishing the defendant with illegal drugs for sale in indeed even deceiving defendant so that he believes that the ACT involved is not illegal the general rule is that entrapment is not involved if you merely go along with a suspect giving him the opportunity to commit the crime to which he already had a predisposition there is one exception to this however remember that if you furnish narcotics to any person even a known Pusher he can claim entrapment and another point to keep in mind is that if you induce any person to commit a crime which he otherwise would not have committed that too is entrapment [Applause] [Music] n