The predisposition of the offender, rather than the objective police methods used to precipitate the offender's crime, is the key factor in determining entrapment. If the offender is evidently predisposed to commit the crime, then government initiatives and enticements to encourage the crime are not illegal. An ethical analysis of such police tactics, however, is disturbing. The tactics commonly involve trickery that (1) offers the illegal action as a minor part of a legal enterprise, (2) disguises the illegal nature of the action, and (3) weakens the target's capacity to distinguish right from wrong. The tactics may also involve coercion that makes the target afraid not to participate in the crime as well as temptation strong enough to overcome a predisposition to obey the law. Undercover work that involves a deep involvement in the criminal subculture and deception can also have a negative effect on an agent's personality, making it difficult to return to a normal or even legitmate lifestyle. The use of informers to perform work illegal for police is a questionable ethical practice in undercover work, as is the often hidden damage to third parties. The public should be concerned about the negative effects of certain undercover activity compared to the value of its ultimate goal, as well as the broad changes in social control methods signified by the increased use of undercover activity to precipitate criminal behavior. Forty-two notes are listed.