The spies either try to get a look around at defenses and cargos, or try to persuade captains or other officers into shipping them illegally.
Superintendent Munn said the police had difficulties at first persuading officers to take up the assignment.
In assessing the department's anticorruption efforts, some critics also fault the heavy reliance on persuading officers who report corruption to go undercover to trap fellow officers.
An influential man, Flynn has the ability to persuade fellow detectives and officers into taking his side on political and LAPD-related matters.
It is alleged that Mr Ford persuaded senior officers within the charity to invest millions in a get-rich-quick scheme.
He persuaded British officers that they would be destroying the shared intellectual record of mankind if the patents were burned.
Persuading young officers that the old ways must give way to the new continues to be an obstacle.
He found it hard enough to persuade senior officers to go along with the peace settlement.
President Raul Alfonsin went to an army base this afternoon and persuaded rebellious officers there to surrender, ending a four-day mutiny.
A big shift to community patrol also means persuading tradition-bound officers to approach their jobs differently.