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Undercover NZ

Season 1 2009

  • 2009-11-23T07:30:00Z on TVNZ
  • 1h
  • 3h (3 episodes)
  • New Zealand
  • Documentary
This three-part documentary series explores the human cost of the New Zealand Police undercover programme, as told by former agents. Undercover begins in the 1960s, when the nation's first agents hit the streets to combat vice crimes, then moves into the birth of the official undercover programme in 1974, following through to gangs and modern-day drug busts. Agents describe the development of the programme, from a time when largely amateur agents were sent out to target prostitutes and small-time drug dealers, to the sophisticated training and successful operations of the modern era. Unlike other undercover programmes around the world, New Zealand's policy about agents' use of drugs in the field has been controversial. It has led to lawsuits, addicted agents, and allegations of tainted evidence. Throughout the series, agents' stories range from those who are disillusioned and dissatisfied with the New Zealand Police, to those for whom the undercover programme was the pinnacle of their careers. Many still believe that sending agents undercover is the only way to catch some of our most wanted criminals.

3 episodes

Series Premiere

2009-11-23T07:30:00Z

1x01 Going Under

Series Premiere

1x01 Going Under

  • 2009-11-23T07:30:00Z1h

What does it take to tell that first lie? How does it feel to be up against some of the world's most well-known criminals? Can you ever switch off from being an agent?

Going Under explores the early years of undercover work in New Zealand, when the focus was the rapidly rising drug problem.

2009-11-30T07:30:00Z

1x02 Crossing the Line

1x02 Crossing the Line

  • 2009-11-30T07:30:00Z1h

At what point does an undercover agent stop being a cop, and become a criminal? Can a cop really infiltrate New Zealand's tightest gangs? And what happens if he is suspected?

Crossing the Line covers the controversial policy of sending undercover agents into some of New Zealand's deadliest gangs during the 1980s.

2009-12-06T07:30:00Z

1x03 A New Era?

1x03 A New Era?

  • 2009-12-06T07:30:00Z1h

Can an agent ever really recover from the lies they've told, the promises they've broken, the friends they've betrayed? Even if they're doing it in the name of the law? What happens to these broken soldiers?

A New Era? asks whether the changes made to the Police Undercover Programme in the 1990s have helped create a more effective crime-fighting machine

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