Many readers will be aware of the ongoing inquiry into the activities of Houston Police Department Narcotics Unit relating in part to the management of confidential informants and the death of two people. . The full report has been published Narcotics Division Review and Revision of Relevant SOPS.
While not getting into the specifics of the case or the audit, the question that reports such as these could raise for every Chief of Police is: ‘Could this happen in my Department? ‘
The question it should raise is: ‘Is this happening in my Department?’
There are a number of ways a Police Chief can address this:
Keep your fingers crossed that nothing happens until retirement.
Wait for something bad to happen then go looking.
Wait for someone to report wrongdoing, then go looking.
Go looking.
I will make the bold suggestion that the fourth option is the only one course of action for a profession Chief of Police. There are numerous opportunities for corruption when it comes to managing informants, particularly in narcotics work. One of the major ways to combat the risks is intrusive supervision. if officers are allowed to continue with limited oversight wrongdoing will occur. The evidence is clear in this report and in many other similar reports. Police Chiefs need to know what is going on in regard to the management of informants. We have written you a book to tell you how to do it safely and effectively: Human Sources Managing Confidential Informants Everything you need to know about structures and training is there. If you want assistance in auditing your informant management systems please get in touch we can advise you in what needs done. I am sure Chief Art Acevedo wishes he had the option to rewind time or that someone had told him about the problems. The Chief in a large force like Houston often will not see the day to day workings regarding informants. Just know that the chances of them being present are extremely high. There is no need for every law enforcement agency to make the same errors that have been made. At HSM Training we are committed to helping law enforcement build safer and more effective structures to manage confidential informants and to have more effective intelligence management systems. We can provide you with a full independent review of your existing structures and identify any problem areas. What you then do with that information is up to you. We want to help. We know the business but if you don’t ask we cant help you info@hsmtraining.com or call +44 7739 370 969
We look for to hearing from you or reading about you :)
