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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.

Contents 1 Examples 2 Ethical concerns 3 Secrecy 4 Sting operations in fiction 5 Notes 6 See also

• Purchasing illegal drugs to catch a supplier
• Deploying a bait car (also called a honey trap) to catch an auto thief
• Setting up a seemingly vulnerable honeypot computer to lure and gain information about crackers.
• Posing as someone who is seeking child pornography to catch a supplier
• Posing as a supplier of child pornography to lure a child molester
• Posing as a child in a chat room to lure a child molester
• Police arranging someone under the legal drinking age to ask an adult to buy alcoholic beverage for him or her^[1]

Sting operations are fraught with ethical concerns over whether they consistute entrapment. Law-enforcement may have to be careful not to provoke the commission of a crime by someone who would not normally be inclined to do so. Additionally, in the process of such operations, the police often engage in the same so-called crimes, often victimless, such as buying or selling contraband, soliciting prostitutes, etc. In common law jurisdictions, the defendant may invoke the defense of entrapment.

Occasionally, a sting operation is kept secret from other associates. Additionally, sting operations may be a component of a conspiracy.

Several novels and short stories by science fiction author Philip K. Dick, such as A Scanner Darkly, revolve around sting operations that have gotten out of hand.

Season Three of the TV series 24 has its entire main plot focused on a sting operation and its unforeseen consequences.

In the American Sonic the Hedgehog issues from Archie Comics, the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix used a sting operation against several of their foes. In this instance, Chaotix member Rouge the Bat claimed to have stolen the valuable and powerful Master Emerald and was auctioning it off. In reality, the Emerald was-at that time-in the possession of Dark Legion scientist Dr. Finitevus and his Destructix minions. Lured in by the falsehood, villains Nack the Weasel, Bean the Dynamite, Bark the Polar Bear, Ixis Naugus, and Mammoth Mogul were defeated and arrested.

1. ^ http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=1878103&nav=9qrxNETb

• Bait car
• Operation Pin
• Abscam
• Cops in shops
• Operation Century
• Jailbait
• The Sting