Most people think of “criminal activity” as an action, but that’s simply not true. Many careers are effectively doing the exact same things.
This doesn’t sound reasonable at first, but here are a few questions:
- What distinguishes an undercover cop or secret shopper from a spy?
- What’s the difference between a private investigator and a stalker?
- How do we distinguish between a scrap metal or explosives expert and an arsonist?
- What’s the difference between an automotive repossession specialist and a car thief?
- What differentiates a magician and a pickpocket?
- What’s the difference between a hacker and a penetration tester?
- How do we tell the difference between a locksmith and a home break-in?
The answer is only two things together:
- The legal job’s purpose doesn’t destroy or take other people’s things.
- That person is rendering a service that adds value to other people.
Broadly, I call all of these roles the “crime-adjacent career”. They all cross boundaries, but for entirely different reasons.
The Gray Area
Since the actions are exactly the same, this presents some realistic risks.
Firstly, these people must be trustworthy enough to not misuse the power they have. Nothing really stops them from acting against their client’s wishes unless some type of accountability is in place.
Second, in the case of roles with very real authority (e.g., police), it’s much more difficult to maintain that accountability. Experienced stalkers associate with and make friends with other stalkers, and professional intelligence operatives will support each other as well.
Third, these not-really-criminal activities often require subversion, meaning detecting a bad actor in that role is very difficult. For example, women’s shelters have limited government oversight, so their community is the only thing stopping them from human trafficking.
We tend to overlook all this because we act in good faith that these people are acting in our interests.
The Other Gray Area
While legal activity can sometimes look criminal, many activities that are perfectly legal can also become criminal as well:
- What’s the difference between a con artist and a salesperson or pastor?
- What’s the difference between an intelligence community and a cartel?
- What distinguishes an accountant and a money launderer?
They all have the power and agency. The only thing maintaining their pro-social circumstances is their decision to maintain their ethics.
The industry almost requires consistently following others who are not being ethical, and bad company corrupts good morals. Since the industry needs skilled workers, they will frequently recruit career criminals as well.
Therefore, it’s no surprise when an anti-cartel organization starts running drug operations themselves. They simply lost their purpose along the way.