NCJ Number
164568
Journal
Police Studies Volume: 19 Issue: 2 Dated: (1996) Pages: 1-25
Date Published
1996
Length
25 pages
Annotation
In the United Kingdom, the movement toward the adoption of proactive policing strategies and the concomitant emphasis on the use of informers have resulted in police managers actively encouraging police detectives to increase their use of informers.
Abstract
To assess the world of police detectives and how they develop informal and often unsanctioned strategies to deal with risks associated with recruiting and running informers, data were obtained over a 2-year period from detailed interviews with police detectives and informers and from police files. Consequences of informer-based policing policies were evaluated with respect to individual police officers, police forces, and the criminal justice system. It was found that police officers saw money as one of the most consistently motivating factors for people becoming and remaining informers. Police officers sought to maximize informer dependency in order to increase their bargaining power. Further, police officers worked with a simple but generally effective model of suspect psychology; suspects wanted to get out of custody as soon as possible and did not want to be charged with a criminal offense. Police officers also used informational and affective strategies to recruit and motivate informers. Risk was an inherent feature of the detective-informer relationship, and police detectives tried to minimize the uncertainty surrounding informer handling by building up trust based on actual experience. The detective-informer relationship was characterized by a subterranean process of exchange involving the routine use of extralegal pressure, under-the-counter deals, and acceptance of the continuing criminality of informers. This led to a series of risk management strategies by police handlers that predominantly involved the control, manipulation, and selective dissemination of information about their own and informer activities. Police officers frequently bypassed formal supervisory mechanisms, failed to obtain authorization for the use of informers, and did not disclose to courts the contribution made by informers in the arrest and prosecution of suspected offenders. These shortcomings, however, existed within a legal and organizational context that was both permissive and facilitative. 39 references, 3 endnotes, and 1 table