Informants Flashcards
What is an informant?
a person who assists LE efforts by providing information concerning criminal or unlawful activity that otherwise may not be provided, usually in return for monetary compensation or some other form of consideration.
What are the sub-categories of informants?
- Anonymous
- Non-confidential
- Confidential
- Unwitting
Types of informants
- Criminal or criminal associate
- professional informant
- informants within industry (store owners)
- Private citizens
What is the most valuable type of informant?
Criminal or criminal associate
Examples of Sources of information
- Probationers/parolees
- Juveniles
- Military Personnel
- foreign nationals/aliens
- Press/news personnel
what is a key to gaining and developing informants?
Proper interviewing techniques
what are the two principal concerns that must be considered before a criminal/criminal associate informant will be cooperative
- confidentiality of their identity
2. specific motivation(monetary payments, consulting with AUSA)
Some items to consider when when developing an informants dossier
- mental, emotional and physical status
- criminal/ employment history
- educational history
- political ideology
What are informants most often used for?
Providing information to law enforcement officials regarding possible violations of law
What are informants typically used for?
- making observations/ surveillance where LEO cannot
- furnish info from source not available to LEO
- Conduct controlled undercover negotiations and purchases
- help establish probable cause
- testify
- gather intelligence
What is the best way to document an informants reliability?
by maintaining a proper informant file
