> The real criminals would cover their bases. So by its very nature, a sting like this one produces perverse outcomes. It over-selects for innocent bystanders and petty criminals, and filters out the savvier criminals who are actually the locus of the problem ostensibly being combated.
In the Milwaukee operation that inspired this bit of investigative journalism, it turned out even worse than that. The career criminals quickly recognized the undercover agents for what they were and proceeded to con the !$@%$@ pants off of them. The whole operation eventually fell apart when the agents got looted, including having the weapons stolen from one of their cars while it was parked at a completely different location.
There was absolutely no benefit to the community from this. The agents baited a bunch of sometimes clueless folks who mostly weren't anything worse than your garden variety juvenile delinquents into committing crimes serious enough to send them to jail. So they created an acute increase in the crime rate, which then permanently decreases the ability of members of the community to secure gainful employment, thereby also creating a chronic increase in the crime rate, expanding social burdens on the community, and reducing the community's economic productivity overall. This in a city that's already completely falling apart both socially and economically thanks to >50% of its African-American males having prior convictions. In return for the pleasure of getting to do this, they supplied the local street gangs with free weapons and, briefly, a convenient source of income.
In the Milwaukee operation that inspired this bit of investigative journalism, it turned out even worse than that. The career criminals quickly recognized the undercover agents for what they were and proceeded to con the !$@%$@ pants off of them. The whole operation eventually fell apart when the agents got looted, including having the weapons stolen from one of their cars while it was parked at a completely different location.
There was absolutely no benefit to the community from this. The agents baited a bunch of sometimes clueless folks who mostly weren't anything worse than your garden variety juvenile delinquents into committing crimes serious enough to send them to jail. So they created an acute increase in the crime rate, which then permanently decreases the ability of members of the community to secure gainful employment, thereby also creating a chronic increase in the crime rate, expanding social burdens on the community, and reducing the community's economic productivity overall. This in a city that's already completely falling apart both socially and economically thanks to >50% of its African-American males having prior convictions. In return for the pleasure of getting to do this, they supplied the local street gangs with free weapons and, briefly, a convenient source of income.