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
A tragic story form Indiana - Lessons to be learned
Here is a story from Indiana about the murder of two people who allegedly were confidential informants. While the criminal investigation is ongoing, there needs to be another investigation to identify how these two people were outed as informants, if indeed they were. If lessons are to be learned this investigation needs to be carried out by persons suitably trained and experienced from outside the law enforcement agency where the people were registered as informants
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?
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.
Informants making things up and police going along -Raleigh, North Carolina
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.
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.
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.
The moral and emotional world of police informants - Academic research
At HSM training and consultancy we are great believers in research relating to the management of confidential informants (CHIS, Confidential human intelligence sources, human source, HUMINT) . The more we look at the topic the better equipped we all should be. A recent paper The moral and emotional world of police informants was recently published by Bethan Loftus, Matthew Bacon, and Layla Skinns.
Confidential Informant related corruption - USA
Well here is a different take on a an unfortunately all to common tale of allegations of inappropriate sexual relations between a police officer and a confidential informant. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that allegations of serious corruption relating to informants and Philadelphia police department have come to light. This article discusses options to remove the risk of such allegations/and events.
Confidential Informant and Wrongful convictions - Painful to watch
Poorly managed confidential informants can lead to wrongful convictions. Here is our commentary on the KSAT 12 documentary ‘A Necessary Evil’: The Cost of Confidential Informants,” It makes for painful watching for any law enforcement officer. who knows how to manage confidential informants properly. It provides suggestions as to how to make sure law enforcement agencies have adequate training, systems and software solutions to mage informants properly.
