i want to be clear about occupy because i've said this more than twice, now.

i was aware pretty early on that the place was infested with undercover cops. but, here's the twist: i was scoping them out as much as they were scoping me out. i wanted to understand what they were doing, for future reference...

there were a few really dead giveaways.

1) if they refused the pass. this is the oldest approach, and i know a lot of people find it distasteful, but it's starkly accurate. i mean, we didn't have any renowned academics or anything...there's not a lot of logic in the refusal. but, accepting the pass doesn't mean you're not a cop. there was one guy that claimed he lived on disability, but seemed to smoke through way more than he could possibly afford, and i'm pretty sure he was a cop.
2) if the uniformed cops always arrested them. there was one guy that got arrested at every protest. he was obviously a cop.
3) if they tried to organize distraction protests. this is hard to explain unless you know it.
4) if they were insistent that people go to their house, rather than somewhere else.
5) if they incited violence. one person really badly outed herself by trying to get people to key up a car. she was already obvious (i figured out that she was 24, after she claimed to be in second year), but that really, really gave her away.
6) if they were in really, really great shape - as though they seemed to train, but never went to the gym.

i want to be crystal clear about how bad it was. there were situations where i was in a room of ten or so people and almost certain i was the only person that wasn't a cop. i even think i went to a few semi-official officer parties....

out of all of the people i met, there was really only one that i was pretty certain about not being a cop because we had mutual friends going back a good ways.