Each day I get google alerts relating to confidential informants, HUMINT Covert Human Intelligence Sources etc. Basically anything to do with Human Sources on the web I try to pick up on and see what is going on . Then I share it here in the hope that we are all wiser from others mistakes. Unfortunately there are just not enough hours in the day and these alerts tend to pile up in my in box.
Tne consequences of poor confidential informant management
Here is a report relating to a huge number of cases that may be overturned in Georgia as a result of a corrupt relations hip with a confidential informant.
About 450 cases are now being questioned. Think about it it. Either way you look at it it is bad. 450 innocent people in jail or 450 guilty people potentially walk. What is more likely is that it is a combination of the two.
And the damage to the criminal justice system in the State does not ear thinking about.
Why because people do not know how to build a system to manage confidential informants ethically and effectively. And until police departments have such a system then these types of cases will keep on appearing.
Is your department next up?
Making up informants
Informant problems New Bedford, MA
We have talked a lot about this before but the problems continue. It was recently suggested to me by a student that this doesn’t happen anymore. Unfortunately it does because police departments and sheriffs officers continue to believe any officer should be allowed to manage informants and to compound the problem they fail to put in adequate structures to manage the risks.
Confidential informants - what 1.8 million dollars buys!
Police corruption and informants - too close for comfort
Here is a story form Arkansas about a sheriff who may have gotten too close to his informant. Managing confidential informants is a high risk business. Many officers have no idea how easily they can find themselves being corrupted. There is often an unhealthy combination of ignorance and hubris. Add this to lack of structures within an agency and poor supervision and it is a recipe for disaster.
Only members who have completed Department approved training may utilize confidential informants or maintain informant files
I was doing some doing some research on the web when I came across this quote “Only members who have completed Department approved training may utilize confidential informants or maintain informant files”. It is taken from Vancouver Police Department’s Informant Management Policy For those of you unaware Vancouver is a big city in Canada - think mountains and sea, with approximately 2000 sworn and unsworn members.
New Australian legislation for managing human sources (confidential informants)
After spending over AUD100 million on a Royal Commission and years of adverse publicity, the State of Victoria has new legislation for managing human sources.
It is certainly going to change how things are done.
Unfortunately, this is not the end of the matter which began with police using a defence lawyer as an informant to report on her clients.
Safe to say it went badly wrong.
If you want to read the whole sad story visit: https://www.rcmpi.vic.gov.au/
The consequences of poor confidential informant management
Here is a story originating in San Francisco about cases being lost as a result of poor informant management
We have discussed similar cases over the years but these types of incident continue. This is not about individual officers. This is about agencies not having sufficient structures in place to minimise the risk of these things happening. Such systems take a bit of time and investment to set up and maintain but no where near the time and effort needed to clear the potential harm done by incidents such as this.
We could go on but where would be the point. If you want help ask us. If you don’t then accept the risk that something similar is occurring in your agency.
The cost of poor confidential informant management - Invest now or Pay later.
Sometimes it is hard to get through to people how costly the mismanagement of confidential informants can be. This story relates to a police department that have paid out over $2.3 million dollars with a third case pending. That is a lot of money for any department to be paying out. And it could have been avoided if the department had invested in the proper structures for managing confidential informants.
Failure to Protect officer in managing confidential informant.
Here is a story from Georgia that gives me some cause for concern. It is about a police officer convicted for misconduct in relation to the management of a confidential informant. While it is difficult in such cases to make a judgement without knowing all the facts the one thing that jumps out here is that it is agreed by all the officer’s intentions were good.
Confidential informant corruption. A common problem and a simple solution.
Here is an all to common story about an officer who is suspected of having inappropriate relationships with confidential informants. These relationships happen because officers believe they can have clandestine meetings without any contemporaneous record being kept of the meeting. The article discusses the use of a digital police notebook that provides a simple solution.
Confidential informant compromise - Police Negligence.
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.
Key advantages of Computerized Confidential Informant Management Records Software
The blog discusses the key benefits for law enforcement in using computerized confidential informant management software. The article highlights the risks that will be managed and some of the cost savings that can be made. The article will be of interest to Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs who are interested in maximising the intelligence gained from informants and at the same time minimizing risk
