While they are a staple of crime investigation procedurals, the fact is that many agencies do use undercover officers to get information and make arrests. So it only stands to reason that the folks doing the infiltrating have to do some wild things to stay in character.
Someone asked “Former undercover cops of Reddit, what is the craziest thing you had to do to not blow your cover?” and netizens shared their stories. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to detail your own encounters in the comments below.
#21

Not a cop, but in college I took a few criminal justice classes. Our professor, who I will call Bob,was a cop for 15 or so years and had gone undercover in the 80s for a very long time. Bob was biker as a hobby and he was sent undercover to break up a m**h ring in the biker community. Bob arranged to buy some m**h from some guy, and shortly after the buy the d****r was arrested.
The dealers sister started telling everyone she thought Bob was a cop, and some of the other bikers started asking him questions. So day or so after the sister started accusing Bob of being a narc the entire group was at a bar. Bob told a few of the guys to meet him outside in a few minutes, and Bob told the sister he had some m**h for her and to come outside. When they finally got out there Bob told her "Where I'm from friends dont call friends narcs."
He then beat the s**t out of her in front of the entire group. He kicked her as hard as he could between her legs, which while not as painful if you're a woman, still hurts. Then he said he punched her 4 or 5 times in the face. HARD. He said he didn't wanna do it, but after he did that no one ever accused him of being a cop again.
The dealers sister started telling everyone she thought Bob was a cop, and some of the other bikers started asking him questions. So day or so after the sister started accusing Bob of being a narc the entire group was at a bar. Bob told a few of the guys to meet him outside in a few minutes, and Bob told the sister he had some m**h for her and to come outside. When they finally got out there Bob told her "Where I'm from friends dont call friends narcs."
He then beat the s**t out of her in front of the entire group. He kicked her as hard as he could between her legs, which while not as painful if you're a woman, still hurts. Then he said he punched her 4 or 5 times in the face. HARD. He said he didn't wanna do it, but after he did that no one ever accused him of being a cop again.
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12points
#22

Not an officer but was on the wrong end of an undercover operation. In college I developed a liking for opioids and it quickly spiraled out of control. I couldn’t afford my habit so I started selling to afford using. I sold very small amounts and only to my “friends.” It was a horrible thing to do but a*******n makes you so crazy things and not think clearly.
A kid I regularly sold to, I’ll call him Larry, came over my house one night with his “best friend from h**h school.” The kid looked about our age (young 20s at the time) and I considered Larry to be a very good friend of mine. I had know him all 4 years we had been at college and hung out fairly regularly. He asked if his friend could have my number as he was moving to our area for work and needed a connect. I said sure and that was that.
I never sold on campus and for some reason this kid only wanted to meet me in the parking lot on campus. I kept telling him no until finally one time I hit a dry patch and needed all the help I could get. I agreed to meet him in the school parking lot. I gave him two pills for $60 and turned to get out of his truck. I felt a hand on my forearm and turned to see another guy with one hand on me and a gun in the other pointed directly at me. Figured I was getting robbed. Turned out it was the police and my “friend” had set me (and others) up in an effort to get his sentence reduced.
The system is so f****d up that their one goal is to arrest college kids on campus and dangle large sentences with mandatory minimums on them so they are “forced” to become a CI and avoid the hefty sentences attached to the mandatory minimums. They R.O.R. you and you’re supposed to keep in constant contact with the uncover officer and supply him with names and targets they can arrest. The issue is you’re not under any supervision and you’re not expected to rehabilitate yourself. Larry ended up continuing to use despite being a CI.
The cops don’t d**g test nor help with the necessary rehab they just want to make more and more arrests. It’s a bull s**t system that takes advantage of young vulnerable addicts. Larry lived alone and was required to keep all of his dealings private so that the officer’s cover wasn’t blown and Larry’s status as a CI wasn’t jeopardized. He went silent for a few days and no one was sure why. His best friend decided to see what was up and went to his apartment. Larry had OD’d alone in his apartment about 36-48 hours before his best friend found him.
I didn’t end up helping the cops and instead went into rehab, then jail, released on parole and concurrent probation. I was facing a mandatory minimum of 4 years and the judge said I should thank him for his lenience as I could have gone to jail for up to 30 years. Fortunately I’m still alive. I know a lot of people who lost the fight with a*******n.
A kid I regularly sold to, I’ll call him Larry, came over my house one night with his “best friend from h**h school.” The kid looked about our age (young 20s at the time) and I considered Larry to be a very good friend of mine. I had know him all 4 years we had been at college and hung out fairly regularly. He asked if his friend could have my number as he was moving to our area for work and needed a connect. I said sure and that was that.
I never sold on campus and for some reason this kid only wanted to meet me in the parking lot on campus. I kept telling him no until finally one time I hit a dry patch and needed all the help I could get. I agreed to meet him in the school parking lot. I gave him two pills for $60 and turned to get out of his truck. I felt a hand on my forearm and turned to see another guy with one hand on me and a gun in the other pointed directly at me. Figured I was getting robbed. Turned out it was the police and my “friend” had set me (and others) up in an effort to get his sentence reduced.
The system is so f****d up that their one goal is to arrest college kids on campus and dangle large sentences with mandatory minimums on them so they are “forced” to become a CI and avoid the hefty sentences attached to the mandatory minimums. They R.O.R. you and you’re supposed to keep in constant contact with the uncover officer and supply him with names and targets they can arrest. The issue is you’re not under any supervision and you’re not expected to rehabilitate yourself. Larry ended up continuing to use despite being a CI.
The cops don’t d**g test nor help with the necessary rehab they just want to make more and more arrests. It’s a bull s**t system that takes advantage of young vulnerable addicts. Larry lived alone and was required to keep all of his dealings private so that the officer’s cover wasn’t blown and Larry’s status as a CI wasn’t jeopardized. He went silent for a few days and no one was sure why. His best friend decided to see what was up and went to his apartment. Larry had OD’d alone in his apartment about 36-48 hours before his best friend found him.
I didn’t end up helping the cops and instead went into rehab, then jail, released on parole and concurrent probation. I was facing a mandatory minimum of 4 years and the judge said I should thank him for his lenience as I could have gone to jail for up to 30 years. Fortunately I’m still alive. I know a lot of people who lost the fight with a*******n.
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12points
#23

I know a guy (retired police officer) who works as an investigator of crooked doctors. He dresses up in disguises and is given a fake name to use. He goes into doctor’s offices and tries to find out if a doctor who is suspected of overprescribing narcotics is legit or not. He told me a story about a time he went into see a dentist about a minor toothache and walked outa there with a prescription for Percocet and Dilaudid. He says there are plenty of legit doctors out there, but there are also a lot of careless ones who give into their d**g-seeking patients.
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12points
#24

Not a former undercover cop, but I have an second hand story about an undercover cop.
So, this guy appears or of nowhere and befriends a relative of mine who was involved in illegal stuff. Dude was very friendly and just down to party. Had money. Paid for...product. Everything. Would drop in on parties and even allegedly hooked up with “hoes”. Then he placed an order much larger than before. Few weeks later, relative of mine is arrested and is currently in prison.
Craziest thing an undercover cop had to do the keep their cover? Buy d***s and f**k bitches.
So, this guy appears or of nowhere and befriends a relative of mine who was involved in illegal stuff. Dude was very friendly and just down to party. Had money. Paid for...product. Everything. Would drop in on parties and even allegedly hooked up with “hoes”. Then he placed an order much larger than before. Few weeks later, relative of mine is arrested and is currently in prison.
Craziest thing an undercover cop had to do the keep their cover? Buy d***s and f**k bitches.
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11points
#25

Used to be night manager of a s*x shop. A s*******d vice cop and his lady came in late at night, and the vice cop proceeded to brag about how he had been part of the team that helped recently shut down a local strip club--every Friday, the chief would hand him and his partner each $1000 cash and send them to the strip club with instructions to do whatever they could to try and buy p***y and d***s. Apparently their first few trips were a dud, but after a while, the one in my store was able to cajole one of the girls into giving him a b*****b. He came in her mouth, then flashed the badge before she could even swallow.
He then proceeded to demand to use our bathroom....I told him "no dice," public restrooms + adult retail is a bad combination for everyone. He said he was a cop, I told him that was completely irrelevant. He protested by pissing his pants in my store and telling me that I made him do it before storming out with his lady.
TL;DR - If you live in Butler County Ohio, 2000 of your tax dollars are spent weekly on table dances and blowjobs for idiotic m***********g bro-ciopaths who aren't even housebroken. Way to serve and protect, d******d.
He then proceeded to demand to use our bathroom....I told him "no dice," public restrooms + adult retail is a bad combination for everyone. He said he was a cop, I told him that was completely irrelevant. He protested by pissing his pants in my store and telling me that I made him do it before storming out with his lady.
TL;DR - If you live in Butler County Ohio, 2000 of your tax dollars are spent weekly on table dances and blowjobs for idiotic m***********g bro-ciopaths who aren't even housebroken. Way to serve and protect, d******d.
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11points
#26

Not a cop but i did work for the liquor board in the city next to my town busting bars for underage drinking. When i would get served i would have to text the officer in charge and he would come in and take my picture with the drink then fine the bar (typically a few hundred dollars) and the bar would get a strike (3 strikes and they loose their liquor license), when i would get served im not allowed to drink any alcoholic beverages. Only once did i actually have to drink the drink served to me, i was at a sketchy biker bar and they're known for underage drinking and already have 2 strikes, they're also know for getting rough with the informants like some employees and patrons assaulting the kids (18-20), so i walk in and ask for a Budweiser i show him my real ID and he serves me my beer, before i can even pul out my phone the bar tender grabs my wrist and asks me if i work for the liquor board, i tell him no and he says "ok then chug your beer". So i slam the bottle of bud and he lets me go and then tells me "i have my eye on you boy" and gets me another bud i then take a snap chat of me at the bar with my drink and high tail it out of the bar. I then show the picture to the officer and tell him everything that happened and he heads into the bar and ends up fining the bar and the bar tender and giving them their last strike. They end up taking everything to court and i get called in as a witness and have to testify in court everything that happened, the bar looses the case and when im walking out to my car the owner yells to me "hey kid watch your s**t, you'll get whats coming to you". So far nothing has happened to me, this happened about 3 years ago so i dont think anything will happen to me.
Edit: im getting a lot of hate, people calling me scum and degenerate so heres something that'll p**s you guys off even more. I wasn't even getting paid to do it either.
Edit: ok guys to give some back story as well on this, my area has had a huge problem with underage DUIs and has ended in the deaths of a number of them, so i really didnt have all to much of a problem doing it either because it directly help reduce underage drinking and driving. Also to the people PMing me with names of informants thinking im one of them, i am not and even if it was i wouldn't tell you, so please stop.
Edit: im getting a lot of hate, people calling me scum and degenerate so heres something that'll p**s you guys off even more. I wasn't even getting paid to do it either.
Edit: ok guys to give some back story as well on this, my area has had a huge problem with underage DUIs and has ended in the deaths of a number of them, so i really didnt have all to much of a problem doing it either because it directly help reduce underage drinking and driving. Also to the people PMing me with names of informants thinking im one of them, i am not and even if it was i wouldn't tell you, so please stop.
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9points
#27

Well since no one is saying anything, I'll just throw out a slightly on topic conversation change... There's a show on Netflix called "Deep Undercover". They are all 25-30 minute episodes about a real life undercover operation. There's like 50 episodes and some of them are completely insane. I think the craziest one was about the New Orleans police department. I highly recommend it.
EDIT: Since so many ppl are wanting to watch this show, don’t get your hopes up for binge watching purposes. They all have the same format so after 7-8 episodes it starts to get really repetitive. I usually watch a couple before I get bored, but the first night I watched a s**t ton. So I don’t want y’all going in with really h**h expectations and being disappointed lol.
EDIT: Since so many ppl are wanting to watch this show, don’t get your hopes up for binge watching purposes. They all have the same format so after 7-8 episodes it starts to get really repetitive. I usually watch a couple before I get bored, but the first night I watched a s**t ton. So I don’t want y’all going in with really h**h expectations and being disappointed lol.
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7points
When delving into the intricate dynamics of deception and disguise, one can't help but relate it to real-life situations where assumptions lead to prejudices. Such was the case when a customer faced allegations over something he rightfully owned, similar to how undercover operations often tread the fine line of perception.
For a detailed exploration of how assumptions can escalate, read about this particular incident that became viral.

