ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the implications of the concepts of intended and unintended consequences of undercover policing and to identify some of these consequences within the Canadian context. It argues that a large number of the undesirable consequences of undercover policing can be viewed as intentional, in the legal sense of the word. The chapter also discusses specific features of the Canadian context of undercover policing and describes the Canadian policing apparatus. It analyzes the meaning of intended/unintended consequences in the field of undercover policing. The chapter identifies some of these consequences and classify them according to four categories, namely consequences which are desirable, from a law enforcement perspective, and intended, consequences which are desirable and unintended, consequences which are undesirable and intended and consequences which are undesirable and unintended. It also argues that the dichotomy between intended and unintended consequences is too narrow to account for the consequences of undercover policing.
