Category Archives: Law enforcement

Police

Confidential Informants – understand what you’re agreeing to!

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A confidential informant in Wyoming has just lost the appeal against his drug conviction. The informant, Marshal Lewis Washington, had agreed to become a confidential informant for Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation after he was imprisoned for shoplifting. Unfortunately, Washington took this to mean that he was authorised to buy drugs without law enforcement supervision. Before conducting a controlled drug buy, narcotics officers performed a customary search of Washington’s car where they found “an array of controlled substances”… They promptly arrested him for possession.

Despite Washington’s appeal that he believed DCI agents had authorised him to buy drugs on his own, the DCI insisted that he has been thoroughly briefed regarding his role. Washington lost his appeal on Tuesday.

This story, as reported in trib.com, emphasises the importance of properly explaining ground rules and expectation to confidential informants. Failure to do so can, as exemplified here, just facilitate more criminal activity.

 

Police Resilience in Spite of Cuts

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#suptconf11 – Police Resilience and Staffing Cuts… Two of the key issues at the core of discussions during the Police Superintendents’ Association conference this week.

During the opening session, Dr. Timothy Brain suggested that, “the sword of Damocles has fallen on police”. With a projected loss of 16,000 police officers and 18,000 staff, the budget cuts will certainly have a significant impact on UK policing. Such cuts will demand new approaches to the way that police resources and operations are managed. Despite the apparent concern, Derek Barnett, president of the PSAEW, was upbeat, emphasising throughout the conference that “change is upon us but change can be positive”. The changes will demand a more efficient, more intelligence-led, more proactive approach to policing that achieves more with less.

At ABM, we support the notion that change can be positive and are keen to work with our customers to work out ways of delivering police services in more efficient ways. We are listening now more than ever to the issues that are troubling police forces – from reduction in back office staff to concerns over the efficiency of intelligence operations. Through cooperation with technology developers like ABM, police forces really can deliver the results that the public depend on.

Addressing sexual offenses and misconduct by law enforcement

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Published June 2011, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) executive guide to “Addressing Sexual Offenses and Misconduct by Law Enforcement” raises some troubling questions for law enforcement agencies across America and beyond. Failure to maintain adequate management oversight of officers’ actions can be an important factor contributing to the risk of sexual misconduct. Law enforcement agencies looking for a solution to the problem should consider abmpegasus – a leading software system for law enforcement that improves management oversight of undercover policing activity.

Reported on this blog just yesterday was the case of Vancouver Police Department (WA), where four officers have been disciplined after it was revealed that a confidential informant handler was having an inappropriate relationship with his informant. Such behaviour seriously damages the reputation of law enforcement agencies and it is essential that agencies take strong action to prevent such transgressions.

Another officer disciplined in confidential informant mismanagement case

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Vancouver Police sergeant Duane McNicholas is the latest officer to be disciplined following an investigation into the mismanagement of confidential informant, Tegan Rushworth. As reported by The Columbian, Rushworth, an attractive former Fort Vancouver Rodeo Queen turned methamphetamine user, was working for the police department as a confidential informant. Her handler,  Erik McGarrity, engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with her. It appears that McGarrity and the other three officers failed to arrest Rushworth despite a warrant being issued for her arrest.

This case illustrates the need for law enforcement agencies to implement robust authorization and management procedures for the use of confidential informants. Proper risk management and management oversight would probably have prevented this embarrassing incident which, as VPD Cmdr. Dave King noted, put the department in potentially litigious situations and allowed the credibility of the agency to be impacted.

Kenya’s Witness Protection Agency Launches

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As reported by KBC, Kenya’s new witness protection agency was officially launched on Friday. The news comes after months of debate over the need for improved witness protection in Kenya and the passing of the Witness Protection Amendment Bill in 2010. Public pressure for better witness protection in Kenya became particularly prevalent in the aftermath of widespread violence following the contested elections in 2007. The new agency means that witness protection will now be managed independently instead of operating as a unit within the Department of Public Prosecution.

Despite this positive step forwards, some are concerned that the new agency will be under-funded – it had requested 1.2 billion Kenyan Shillings to support its operations but was only allocated Sh300 million (equivalent to £2m GBP or $3.3m USD).

The Witness Protection Act aims to provide protection to people who have important information and face potential risk as a result of their cooperation with prosecution and law enforcement agencies. It is hoped it will help to tackle organised crime and corruption in Kenya.

The existence of adequately funded and managed witness protection programmes in Africa is fairly rare, with South Africa being the only other African nation to have a formal programme. If Kenya’s programme is successful maybe other countries will come to realise the benefit of an independent witness protection agency.

Should police be allowed to use cell phone tracking data?

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The American Civil Liberties Union is questioning US law enforcement agencies’ use of cell phone tracking data to locate individuals, suggesting that it could infringe upon privacy rights. In an article by ksl.com, the Sheriff of Salt Lake County is reported as saying that additional procedures would require too much time for budget-strapped agencies, while the Chief of Salt Lake City Police explains that cell phone tracking has been successfully used to locate criminals and suicidal individuals.

ACLU wants to ensure that sufficient procedures and protection is in place to make sure that cell phone data is only requested when necessary and proportionate. ACLU of Utah Executive Director Karen McCreary said, “The Fourth Amendment requires that law enforcement demonstrate probable cause and obtain a warrant before accessing private information about an individual. Utahns have a right to know if, how, and how often they are being tracked by the police.”

34 ACLU affiliates across the USA are requesting law enforcement agencies to reveal when, why and how they are using cellphone data to track individuals. ACLU’s full press release can be found at http://www.acluutah.org/CellPhoneGRAMA.html.

ABM provides software to help law enforcement agencies to manage requests for communications data, ensuring that they are proportionate and necessary – abmpegasus Communications.

New law requires jailhouse witness statement corroboration

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As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, Governor Jerry Brown of California has approved bill SB687 which will require prosecutors to corroborate jailhouse witness testimony in court. The statements of jailhouse witnesses, prisoners that inform against fellow inmates, will no longer be sufficient evidence to find a defendant guilty of a crime. Prosecutors will now have to ensure that additional independent evidence is gathered to support charges against the defendant.

Whilst some people have argued that this will make it harder to secure criminal convictions, supporters of the new legislation argue that it will help to prevent miscarriages of justice based on jailhouse informants who may have reasons to fabricate statements against fellow inmates. 17 other states have already introduced similar legislation.

Police forces and prosecutors will now face the challenge of putting processes are in place to make sure that appropriate evidence is gathered following witness statements from jailhouse informants. ABM’s abmpegasus Debrief module is designed to do just that.

California Assembly passes confidential informant legislation

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The California Assembly has passed bill SB 687 which would prevent criminal conviction based solely on the uncorroborated testimony of a jailhouse informant. The bill recognises the need for informants in the fight against organised crime, yet it also accepts the inherent pitfalls of confidential informants who may have hidden agendas in testifying against other suspected criminals.

SB 687, which is supported by San Francisco and Los Angeles County’s District Attorneys, aims to reduce the potential for wrongful convictions based on informants’ testimony.

The bill is now awaiting approval by the governor of California and it will have implications for law enforcement across the state. Law enforcement agencies will have to take more care in the collection and management of intelligence to ensure that evidence against suspected perpetrators of crime is sufficiently strong.

More at http://sfappeal.com/news/2011/07/jailhouse-informant-bill-passes-assembly.php

Is a confidential informant’s testimony worth $400k?

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As reported on NewsOn6.com, a key witness in the Tulsa Police corruption case is hoping to get $400,000 from authorities after helping the FBI to build a case against corrupt Tulsa Police officers. There will always be controversy over paying convicted criminals to provide information to law enforcement, but it is surely impossible to put a price on the value to society in rooting out corrupt officials.

ACLU criticises use of confidential informants in New Jersey

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The American Civil Liberties Union has published a report criticising the way that confidential informants (CIs) are used in the state of New Jersey. The report finds that some law enforcement agencies do not have policies regarding the proper management of CIs, while many of those that do have proper policies have failed to ensure that officers are trained to ensure that policies are adhered to. The report suggests that there are too many opportunities for deliberate or accidental misuse of CIs, leading to potential for injustice to occur.

Just three months ago, ACLU published a similar report criticising the state of Mississippi’s  drug enforcement system, stating that the incentives for confidential informants need to be more carefully managed.

Such lack of confidence in the management of CIs should be a cause for great concern among law enforcement agencies. It is important that officers properly asses the risk and reliability of information provided by CIs before acting upon it. If law enforcement agencies want to ensure that this is achieved, it is vital that proper policies and procedures are in place and properly communicated to officers. Managers need to have oversight of all interaction with CIs.

In the United Kingdom, legislation and best practice has helped to ensure that CIs are managed in a safe and compliant way. Software, such as abmpegasus Source Management, helps to make sure that proper procedures are followed and that the use of CIs is fully assessed for risk and authorised accordingly.

ACLU’s report, “An Exploratory Study of the Use of Confidential Informants in New Jersey” can be found at http://www.aclu-nj.org/downloads/0611ACLUCIReport.pdf and “Numbers Game: The Vicious Cycle of Incarceration in Mississippi’s Criminal Justice System” can be found at http://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/numbers-game-vicious-cycle-incarceration-mississippis-criminal-justice-system

http://media.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/other/report.pdf