John Buckley
Confidential Informant Training - From us, ...

I was asked yesterday has to what makes confidential informant (Human Source) training provided by HSM Training different from other providers. I wasn’t quite sure where to start. Then it dawned on me that it doesn’t actually start with us, it starts with the customer and what they need. And what they need is not always what they want.

HUMINT Management

Problems Managing Confidential Informants for Agency

It can be very hard for officers working in an agency to read negative reporting in the press, about their agency. And in this case to read of a similar problem occurring. Once you can put down to bad luck, twice …well fingers start to point. Below are two stories connected with officers and confidential informants.

Judge orders Bristol DA to reveal all New Bedford cases involving confidential informant.

A rogue cop, a mystery snitch, and a ‘drug rip.’ How ‘Officer Pills’ exploited policing’s informant system.

Psychology and human sources - research paper

At HSMTraining we are always looking for new information about human sources, HUMINT Confidential Informants, covert human intelligence sources CHIS. Of particular interest is always anything that comes from academia. Here is a paper describing some new research others may find of interest

Confidential Informant Training - From us, what you need is what you get.

I was asked yesterday has to what makes confidential informant (Human Source) training provided by HSM Training different from other providers. I wasn’t quite sure where to start. Then it dawned on me that it doesn’t actually start with us, it starts with the customer and what they need. And what they need is not always what they want.

Informant sues for $ 10 million

Many law enforcement agencies are quite happy to sign up confidential informants with no real consideration given to the risks they are running.

Here is a case from Alabama where a Sheriffs department is being sued for $10 million

Drug informant shot 15 times sues Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out and how much if anything is paid out.

Making up informants

Some people don’t learn . You just can’t make up informants. Here is a story from Smithfield Rhode Island about a 600k lawsuit based on information from an informant .

In essence the officer obtained a warrant based on an informant who no one met.

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.

Poor informant management - on so many levels

Here is an article about confidential informant management in Orange County, California. There have been problems here for a number of years and the fallout continues.

There is so much wrong here with regard to the evidence the officer provides I am not quite sure where to start. However, assuming the officer is being honest it indicates a system that was totally dysfunctional.

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.

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.

Compromising a confidential informant - why it might cost you a shit-ton.

It is not unusual for people to ask why we recommend so much training for those involved in managing confidential informants (HUMINT, confidential human sources, CHIS). This week when I pointed out that we would normally spend at least two days solely on risk management this was greeted with incredulity. The question asked was “Why would you to that?”

Confidential informant corruption

Here is one of those stories where you just thing WTF! Our regular readers will be familiar in regard to our advocacy around the need for police chiefs to build suitable structures to minimise the risk of corruption when managing confidential informants while maximising the benefits from them. This of course assumes that the Chief is not involved in the corruption. A recent story relating to Payne Springs Police Department raises concerns. The allegation is that the Chief and one of her officers were using a confidential informant to buy and sell drugs for their personal benefit.

Rape of a Confidential Informant - Who was protecting the informant

Here is a story about Rapides Parish Sherriff’s office and the rape of a confidential informant. Have a read.

If I was to let loose about what I think I would probably say things I regret. And that would be wrong because I don’t know the full facts. What I do know is this:

The woman was an informant

She was raped.

The police put her in a position where that rape took place and did not protect her.

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