sting operation

Other Definitions
sting operation (dict)

In law enforcement a sting operation is an operation designed to catch a person committing a crime, by means of deception. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather evidence of the suspect's wrongdoing. Examples:

purchasing drugs to catch a supplier
posing as a client to catch a prostitute or pimp / escort agency
posing as a prostitute to catch a client
posing as someone who likes child pornography to catch a supplier
posing as a supplier of child pornography to lure a pedophile
posing as a child in a chat room to lure a pedophile
police arranging someone under 21 to ask from an adult to buy alcoholic beverage for him or her; the adult is prosecuted if he or she complies (May 2004, Indio, California http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=1878103&nav=9qrxNETb)

Law-enforcement may have to be careful not to provoke the crime. In common law jurisdictions, the defendant may invoke the defense of entrapment. A related term is agent provocateur. A related matter is parking a car as a honey trap for car thieves, etc. In computing, a honeypot can be used to gain information about a potential cracker.

Sting Operation

See also