Many people are interested in what motivates an confidential informant ( aka: human source, covert human intelligence source, CHIS, HUMINT) to assist law enforcement. For a quick fix solution Wikipedia provides a list of potential motivations. A few other articles found on the internet will give an expanded version of that list. Some training courses, available for law enforcement officers, will claim to be able to provide officers with everything they need to know about managing confidential informants, including motivation, in one or two days. All these only go to reinforce stereotypes.
Confidential informants, will have always have their own agendas and will sometimes be motivated to lie and obstruct justice while claiming to be help. Because the officer involved does not understand or cannot see what is really motivating the informant, the informant ends up sabotaging the investigation or leads the officer into a corrupt relationship.
Informants who fully cooperated and provided truthful information to law enforcement can cause significant damage to their co-conspirators but in order for them to do this we need to know what will motivate them to do so. The more motivated a confidential informant is, the more likely they are to apply themselves to the tasks that the law enforcement officers gives them and the more committed they will be r to achieving success. Identifying an informant’s true motives for providing information increases the chances of maximizing the quality and quantity of information they provide and being able to conduct an effective criminal investigation while at the same time , keeping everyone involved safe. .
Understanding an informant’s motives for providing information is fundamental to managing them effectively. If we want to understand what motivates a confidential informant then we are going to have to understand what motivates people. And gaining a better understanding of what motivates people takes time. Human motives and motivation is a complex subject with many competing theories. Sorting through those theories and condensing them into something that has practical utility needs a lot of research. Fortunately we have done it for you. Our book: Why - Understanding Motive and Motivation provides a comprehensive guide that enables the reader to gain real understanding of the complexity of motivation and guidance on how to detect underlying motives that are normally hidden to others.
Having gained this knowledge all that remains to be done is to transpose it into the environment of managing confidential informants. While we continue to believe that the motives of a confidential informant can be summarized in one or two words, for example, ‘fear’, ‘money’ or ‘a reduced sentence’, our interactions with them will always remain superficial and be fraught with risk.
For those involved in law enforcement this book will help in the application of your new knowledge The Human Source Management System. It provides comprehensive guidance on how to recruit and manage confidential informants and has an entire chapter dedicated to a better understanding of what motivates confidential informants. [It is only available to law enforcement.]
If you are interested in training in relation to motivation or details of our comprehensive human source training programs please get in touch: info@hsmtraining.com We provide the best confidential informant training available.
