Another 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. Already dozens have been dismissed, with more likely to follow.
While all the facts are not publicly available there is a lot can be learned from this. We can see that the system employed to manage informants was broken. If an agency has a good informant management system things like this cannot happen because the checks and balances are in place to manage the risks. So what needs to happen in a force like Chicago.?
They have 12000 officers which means that they have the capacity to manage a maximum of 400 informants at anyone time. To manage 400 informants you need approximately 80 trained informant handlers who are dedicated exclusively to that role. All they do is recruit and manage informants. You will need 16 line supervisors for these officers, to oversee these operations on a daily basis. You will need 8 officers of captain rank to authorize each of the informants on behalf of the agency, and make strategic decisions about their use. You will also need an Intelligence Management System where all information from informants can be processed and disseminated.
ALL officers involved in informant management need to be trained. This will take approximately 3 weeks of training for each officer. So for a force of 12000 officers you need about 8 courses of three-week duration. to begin with. This will cost around $150,000
You also need software to manage informants. For an agency of this size just to manage informants that will probably begin in the region of $100,000 depending on how much you want to invest and what you want it to do.
Policy and procedures will probably need reviewed to make clear what the rules are.
Compare this investment with the costs involved because of the corruption.
Don’t let these figures scare you. They are an estimate for one of the largest forces in the USA. With fewer officers there are fewer sources and costs come down. Ask us for an estimate for your agency.
What you get at the end of the day is your agency managing informants legally, safely, and ethically. You get more information and better quality of information, against identified targets, and with significantly less chance of any corruption.
The first step is auditing your system. If you want to talk through what needs to be done get in touch. If you want to know more about the figures I have used, just ask. If you want to know what software we recommend please email: info@hsmtraining.com We would love to help you out.
Think about how you would do this in your agency or on a county basis in a joint task force. And if you are a Chief, think about the peace of mind it would bring you.
