Cops or Robbers? The Dangers of Invisible Policing
This multimedia investigative report, created by Zev Miklethun for the Policing and Social Justice HistoryLab, examines the deadly and corrupt history of plainclothes and undercover policing in the City of Detroit. Plainclothes or off-duty officers in the Detroit Police Department shot and killed at least 96 people between the late 1950s and the early 1990s, around one-fourth of the known total of police-involved homicides. Plainclothes and undercover policing also facilitated high levels of corruption and criminality by law enforcement officers, especially in drug markets. “Cops or Robbers?” investigates the dangers of invisible policing in the undercover STRESS decoy unit of the early 1970s, the home invasions that escalated during the war on drugs, and criminal conduct by groups of police officers. The report finds that plainclothes and undercover policing creates confusion about who is breaking the law and who is enforcing it, increasing the risk of violence for not only the public but for police officers as well.
