Common usage
An agent provocateur is often a police officer who encourages suspects to carry out a crime under conditions where evidence can be obtained; or who suggests the commission of a crime to another, in hopes he will go along with the suggestion, so he may be convicted of the crime. These are sometimes called sting operations.One common use of Agents provocateurs is to investigate consensual or "victimless" crimes; since each participant in such crimes are willing participants, it is often difficult for the authorities to discover such crimes without the use of undercover agents.
Agents provocateurs are also used against political opponents. Here, it has been documented that provocateurs deliberately carry out or seek to incite counter-productive or ineffective acts, in order to foster public disdain for the group and provide a pretext for aggression against the group; and to worsen the punishments its members are liable for (see Red-baiting).
Historically, Agents provocateurs activities have been one operational tactic of labor spies who may also be hired to infiltrate, monitor, disrupt, or subvert union activities.
The activities of agents provocateurs pose a number of ethical and legal issues. Within common law jurisdictions, the law of entrapment seeks to discern whether the provocateur's target intended to commit the crime he participated in with the provocateur, or whether the suggestion to commit the crime began with the provocateur. It is also debatable whether the institutionalized deception that the use of agents provocateurs implies is in fact more harmful to the social order than the various consensual offenses typically investigated by provocateurs.
United States
Within the United States, the COINTELPRO program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation had FBI agents posing as political radicals in order to disrupt the activities of radical political groups in the U.S., such as the Black Panthers, Ku Klux Klan, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.New York City Police officers have been accused of acting as agents provocateurs during protests against the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City.
Europe
The activities of agents provocateurs against dissidents in Imperial Russia was one of the grievances that led to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Yevno Azef is an example of agent provocateur.In various European countries, Agent Provocateur is an official legal term for a person who approaches other people with a bribe offer, with consent of the police. It has proved fairly effective in combating corruption especially in former Eastern Bloc European countries.
Canada
Three protesters in Montebello, Canada during the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America were accused of being police provocateurs on August 20, 2007, by Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. The entire incident was filmed and posted on YouTube before being picked up by mainstream media. The video shows three masked men, one of whom was armed with a large rock, being confronted by peaceful protesters. One of the masked men spoke to police officers, and then all three pretended to breach the police line and were 'arrested.' Photographs revealed that their boot-tread matched that of the arresting officers. Although they at first denied that the individuals in question were agents provocateurs, the Sûreté du Québec issued a news release on August 23 admitting that the three protesters were, in fact, police officers.See also
- Grant Bristow
- False flag terrorist actions
- Security culture
- Black Bloc
- COINTELPRO
References
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Thursday October 09, 2008 at 20:16:08 PDT (GMT -0700)
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Agent Provocateur is the fifth studio album by American/British rock band Foreigner, released in 1984. A concept album, the songs tell the story of a spy who sees life through both the inside and the outside. Although album sales were lower than their previous work, the album contains the band's biggest hit single, the album's love theme, "I Want to Know What Love Is". The album was certified three times platinum by the RIAA in November 6, 2000 
Track listing
All songs written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones except where noted.- "Tooth and Nail" – 3:54
- "That Was Yesterday" – 3:46
- "I Want to Know What Love Is" (Jones) – 5:00
- "Growing Up the Hard Way" – 4:18
- "Reaction to Action" – 3:57
- "Stranger in My Own House" (Jones) – 4:54
- "A Love in Vain" – 4:12
- "Down on Love" – 4:08
- "Two Different Worlds" (Gramm) – 4:28
- "She's Too Tough" – 3:07
Personnel
- Dennis Elliott - drums, vocals
- Lou Gramm - percussion, vocals
- Mick Jones - guitar, keyboard, vocals, background vocals, multiple instruments
- Rick Wills - bass, background vocals
Additional personnel
- Wally Badarou - analog synthesizer, digital synthesizer
- Tom Bailey - vocals
- Brian Eddolls - synthesizer
- Larry Fast - synthesizer
- Don Harper - vocals
- Jennifer Holliday - vocals
- Dave Lebolt - synthesizer
- Ian Lloyd - vocals, background vocals
- Bob Mayo - synthesizer, piano, keyboard, background vocals
- New Jersey Mass Choir of the GMWA
- Mark Rivera - saxophone, vocals, background vocals
- Jack Waldman - synthesizer
Production
- Producers: Mick Jones, Alex Sadkin
- Engineers: Josh Abbey, Larry Alexander, Joe Ferla, Frank Filipetti, Howie Lindeman
- Assistant engineers: Bobby Cohen, Tim Crich, Scott Mabuchi
- Digital remastering: Ted Jensen
- Art direction: Bob Defrin
- Design: Bob Defrin
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | The Billboard 200 | 4 |
| 1985 | Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 49 |
Singles - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | "I Want to Know What Love Is" | Adult Contemporary | 3 |
| 1984 | "I Want to Know What Love Is" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 |
| 1984 | "I Want to Know What Love Is" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| 1984 | "I Want to Know What Love Is" | UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| 1985 | "Down on Love" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 54 |
| 1985 | "I Want to Know What Love Is" | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | 85 |
| 1985 | "Reaction to Action" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 54 |
| 1985 | "That Was Yesterday" | Adult Contemporary | 24 |
| 1985 | "That Was Yesterday" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 4 |
| 1985 | "That Was Yesterday" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 12 |
References
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Thursday October 09, 2008 at 22:17:37 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
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