A report on a case we are following closely from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, about the trial of a former police officer and his relationship with a number of confidential informants. Allegations of consensual sexual relationships, rape and the supply of heroin to an informant are all in there. While the accused guilt of innocence is, for our purposes, academic, the allegations point to a systemic failure to manage informants safely.
Confidential Informants and Risk. When does the Police Chief need to know?
Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) Training
Problems with confidential informants
There has been a lot of reporting recently about law enforcement agencies having problems managing confidential informants. Regardless of how you refer to people who confidentially pass information to law enforcement.managing them is often problematic. There are numerous terms that are often used: Covert human intelligence sources (CHIS), the UK legal term, Human sources, used by FBI and widely in Canada and across Australia. and HUMINT often used within military circles. Having a clear definition of what constitutes an informant and what the parameters of their role is are critical elements in managing these individuals effectively. A lot of law enforcement officers believe that anyone can manage informants which is also one of the reasons that an agency gets into trouble around informant management. And unfortunately when something goes wrong the default setting for many is to blame an individual rather than looking at the system that created the circumstances where the bad things happened. The vast majority of things that go wrong with managing informants are down to how the agency manages the informant and the systems that are in place. Most of the time it is an officer being scapegoated. Undoubtedly there are officers who have been involved in wrongdoing but when one drills down into the case it is the informant management system within the agency that has condone the activity or not prevented the wrong doing.
Fortunately, there is a lot an agency can do to mange risks around informant management. At HSM Training and Consultancy we have the knowledge and skills to identify the problems you may have within your agency and advise with regard to steps that need to be taken to protect the agency, the public and the informant. In many cases we can help minimise the impact where something bad has already happened. We are professionals. We know informant management inside out. We literally wrote the book!
So regardless of the size of your agency get in touch and we can have a chat about how we can help you. We work with both big and small agencies. And we want what is right for you. Its not an one size fits all solution. And if you need expert testimony about what is good and bad practice with regard to managing informants we can provide that
Confidential Informant Management Inquiry costs 28 Million dollars - so far.
Auditing confidential informant management systems
Why do police managers not want to make changes to manage confidential informants safely. An article that explores some of the reasons why police managers do not want to change the way their agency manages confidential informants. If informants are to be managed safely and the amount of intelligence maximised most police forces need to change how they manage confidential informants.
