Here is a story about the compromise of a list of informants names from Nevada’s Record Courier. A worker in the state’s information technology department, was able to open the file containing the names, addresses and even photos of the informants. If informants are being managed properly this should not be possible. It is negligence on the part of the agency managing the informants. We are putting people’s lives in great danger.
Records management - Backing up police records.
Here is a story from Minneapolis about the destruction of police records some of them pertaining to confidential informants. In one case the records were destroyed by police and in the other as a result of public disorder.
Undercover operations - Records and accountability and potential corruption
“Cops bought booze, lap dances during undercover strip club probe…” makes for an interesting headline in the New York Post but the whole story raises a lot of questions for the police department involved. More importantly it creates a learning opportunity for other law enforcement agencies when it comes to accountability and record keeping in undercover operations.
Protecting confidential informant identities -breaches risk lives.
Careless or negligence - managing confidential informants
Confidential Informant corruption. Patterns of behavior and Prevention
Here are two stories about alleged corruption involving confidential informants, one in Pennsylvania and one in Kentucky Both questions beg the question as to who was supervising these officers? This article explores patterns of behavior in informant management that lead to corruption and suggests ways to prevent it. Will be of interest to anyone involved in a drugs task force.
Dozens of cases dismissed because of confidential informant corruption.
A story from the Chicago Tribune relating to the impact of the misuse of confidential informants. (CHIS, HUMINT, Confidential Human Sources) Two officers were convicted of offences relating to the misuse of informants and now questions have been raised over many of the cases they have been involved in. this article details how to make sure this does not happen in other police departments and gives an indication of the costs involved.
What makes a confidential informant manager trustworthy - HUMINT Skills
Here are a number of traits that anyone involved in managing confidential informants (Human source, HUMINT, Covert Human Intelligence Source, CHIS) should have. A source should always find that the officer responsible for their safety(the Handler) is trustworthy. If someone is going to be a competent source Handler then these are the elements supervisor’s should look for.
Informants and Wildlife Protection
Australian Royal Commission on the management of police informants
The report of the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants in Victoria, Australia has been released. This article gives some of the background to the case and addresses some of the main recommendations of the report. The report establishes best practice for all law enforcement agencies in Australia and contains a lot of learning for those outside Australia that are involved in managing informants.
Avoiding confidential informant related corruption.
There have been serious allegations of corruption in Detroit Police Department involving a narcotics unit and the mismanagement of confidential informant finances. There are always risks when it comes to managing confidential informants (HUMINT, Human Sources, Covert Human Intelligence Sources) This article discusses some of the ways to manage these risks.
HUMINT and Managing Confidential Informants - knowing the difference.
It is far from unusual to come across law enforcement agencies where the term HUMINT is used, or to come across law enforcement officers who talk about having attended HUMINT training or that they are involved in HUMINT activities. Here,we will discuss to concepts HUMINT and Human Source Management (aka informant management) and identify some of the differences in the two disciplines.
Confidential Informant Management goes wrong
Reducing Confidential informant Related Corruption
This article relates to informant management that resulted in a Chicago police officer being sentence to seven years imprisonment. This story is not about one bad cop, it is about a broken system for managing confidential informants (Confidential Human Sources, HUMINT, Covert Human Intelligence Sources , CHIS)
