Here is an all to common story about an officer from Bartlesville who is suspected of having inappropriate relationships with confidential informants. And if one report of similar conduct isn’t enough to get you thinking try this from Philadelphia
These relationships happen because officers believe they can have clandestine meetings without any contemporaneous record being kept of the meeting. Agencies must remove this belief.
Digital notebooks ensure that a record of the meeting is timed and dated at the time of the meeting.
For an agency the solution is simple
Equip every officer with a digital notebook that can be ready remotely by supervisors.
Write a policy that states officers must make a written a contemporaneous record of any meeting or contact with a confidential informant. If they don’t it is a consider as a breach of discipline.
This means that the Police Chief has a record of every meeting with an informant/ witness/ casual contact. If the record is not there the Chief has a problem with the officer. There is no negotiation about what did or not happen. Enforcing it is then at the Chief’s discretion.
We have previously written extensively about what should be included in a digital notebook solution.
For an off the shelf solution that meets all the requirements and more try verinote
If your agency wants some help around such matters please contact us at info@hsmtraining.com or call us on +44 7739 370 969. Our experts will be pleased to chat.
