Here is another case of an officer being charged following an inappropriate relationship with an informant in Oconee County, South Carolina. It is far from unusual. While agencies place their officers in these situations there will always be risks and this is a risk that materialises far too often. Managing confidential informants (human Sources, covert human intelligence sources, CHIS) is a business that is fraught with risks.
Death of an informant and the subsequent push for legislation.
Here is an article from CBS 6 relating to the death of an informant in Virginia. Troy Howlett was working as an informant for the Hopewell Police Department at the time of his death. Howlett died of an overdose but concerns have been raised about the police department pushing him back into the drug world after his arrest.
Law Enforcement and the Concept of HUMINT
Law enforcement officers do NOT undertake HUMINT operations in the way the term is traditionally understood, and commonly used within law enforcement. There are good reasons to stop misusing the term.
The term HUMINT originated within the U.S. military in the 1970s as a broad category encompassing a wide range of human‑based collection methods, including surveillance, witness interviews, undercover activities, espionage and human source handling, and the interrogation or debriefing of prisoners of war.
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.
Confidential informant compromise - Police Negligence.
Here is a story about the compromise of a list of informants names from Nevada’s Record Courier. A worker in the state’s information technology department, was able to open the file containing the names, addresses and even photos of the informants. If informants are being managed properly this should not be possible. It is negligence on the part of the agency managing the informants. We are putting people’s lives in great danger.