Police Ops
For police officers, undercover work provides a priceless opportunity to help the force achieve its goals and to infiltrate large criminal organizations. However, undercover work can be tremendously stressful. The stress of undercover work often reaches a boiling point, leading the officer to have mental health issues and even suicide attempts. In New York, Detective Margaret Sasso served as an undercover officer successfully, but a failed suicide attempt using doctor-prescribed muscle relaxants served as a wake-up call.
In an interview, Detective Sasso claimed that she needed a "rest," which is itself a symptom of the stress experienced as an undercover officer. Undercover officers are new to the force, largely because of the need to ensure their not being recognized. However, their relative inexperience, coupled with the nature of their socially isolating work, causes a large number of undercover officers to experience stress. Dozens request transfers, according to research with the NYPD (Baker & Goldstein, 2012).
However, their training cannot anticipate the level of personal stress, ethical dilemmas, and identity crises that may be experienced while working under cover. Fear of being discovered is also a major stressor, causing some undercover officers to feel deeply fearful and insecure. The job is "inherently dangerous," according to Baker & Goldstein (2012). Many undercover officers are killed in the line of duty, often by fellow officers who do not recognize them. Critical incidents like these make their way to the mainstream media, calling into question the integrity of undercover practices.
Moreover, undercover work entails breaking the law in order to uphold law and order, which can result in cognitive dissonance and existential angst (Joh, 2009). Issues like race and gender play a role in undercover operations. Many undercover officers are non-white. When non-white officers pose undercover in sting operations, their sense of ethnic identity and personal…
