Tag Archives: confidential informant

Ten things that should be taught on a basic confidential informant management course

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Developing  the ‘Ten Things’ series on our blog, international trainer and consultant John Buckley addresses the often neglected area of training for officers involved in managing confidential informants.

Managing confidential informants is often perceived as a task that any officer can do and that every detective should do. However, despite significant evidence of the importance of training for officers involved in this role many agencies provide only the minimum if any training and then wonder why it goes horribly wrong. Even in Florida where training for officers managing confidential informants is a legislative requirement following the death of Rachel Hoffman officers there, often receive only the most minimal of training.  Managers, often untrained themselves, do not understand the difficulties in managing a confidential informant or cite the excuse of not being able to afford the cost of training as the reasons they don’t provide it for their staff.   Where an officer has not been properly trained allowing that officer to manage a confidential informant is negligent on the part of the law enforcement agency. Training should be delivered by a qualified person, delivered against a minimum set of standards and delivered to all staff involved in managing confidential informants regardless of rank. A typical basic course will take a minimum of one week to deliver.

‘Ten things’ that should be taught on a basic confidential informant management course are:

  1. Civil liberties and human rights. Using confidential informants will always engage civil liberty and human rights; officers need to be aware what these issues are and how to justify their actions.
  2. Ethics and morals. Managing confidential informants is fraught with ethical and moral dilemmas. Only by training officers in ethics can these matters be effectively addressed.
  3. Corruption. Unfortunately, all too often officers involved in managing confidential informants become mired in corruption. Understanding the psychological process involved helps reduce the chances of the officer falling victim to this.
  4. Risk management. There are significant risks in managing any confidential informant. Officers need to be trained how to identify, evaluate record and manage the relevant risks.
  5. Legislation and the agency’s policies and procedures for managing confidential informants. Officers need to know the relevant legislation and need the agency’s procedures explained to them.
  6. Record keeping. Officers need to know what records to complete and the timeframes for completion of those records.
  7. Field-craft. Keeping both the officers and the confidential informant alive involves equipping all with the skills necessary to make contact and meet safely.
  8. Debriefing. Many officers have only the most rudimentary of skills when it comes to eliciting the maximum amount of information from a confidential informant. Training officers in ‘relevant’ interviewing skills maximizes the amount of information gained. Some common interview techniques currently in use are totally counter productive for this arena.
  9. Writing intelligence reports. Many officers do not know how to write comprehensive and accurate intelligence reports with the result that inaccurate intelligence is submitted and good intelligence is lost. Officers also need to be taught how to individually grade each intelligence report.
  10. Psychology. Teaching officers even the most fundamental aspects of the psychology involved in managing confidential informants will increase the confidential informant’s productivity and increase the control over that confidential informant.

John delivers confidential informant management training on an international basis to law enforcement military and intelligence agencies. He regularly advises ABM in relation to the development of abmpegasus software for managing confidential informants

If you would like advice or further information on training please to contact John at john.buckley@abmsoftware.com or call +1 703-326-1366.  Alternatively, please complete an ABM Software contact form and a member of our team will get in touch.

Using Juveniles as Confidential Informants

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In this blog, John Buckley, a regular commentator on matters pertaining to the use of confidential informants, remarks on the use of juveniles in that role. Referring to an article in the Detroit Free press dated April 19, 2013. John offers the following:

It is rare that I am drawn to give detailed commentary on a specific case, as the full facts of a case are rarely in the public domain and even if they are, objective reporting on the matter can sometimes be hard to find. However, the case discussed here differs from others in that the County Prosecutor has already raised concerns with regard to police actions and in my opinion the potential for serious repercussions for the wider law enforcement community are of a sufficiently high level to merit further discussion. The case in question revolves around the use of a 14 year old boy as a confidential informant, in a ‘sting’ type operation involving the purchase of drugs. The details of the case can be found at:

http://www.freep.com/article/20130419/NEWS/304190150/14-year-old-drug-sting

My comments, while obviously referencing this particular case, will be generic in nature. I will begin with three guiding principles. Firstly, using anyone under the age of eighteen (a juvenile) as a confidential informant, should only be done where the nature of the crime means it is both necessary and proportionate to do so. Secondly, using a juvenile in such a role brings with it additional risks, risks that need to be acknowledged and properly managed.  Thirdly, the first two factors do preclude an agency from using a juvenile as a confidential informant.

When it comes to this case, there two main concerns:

The first of these concerns is that when one objectively considers the age of the juvenile involved and the relative lack of seriousness of the crime being investigate, it is extremely difficult to justify that the actions of the particular agency were necessary and proportionate. Putting a fourteen year old boy’s life at risk for a marijuana bust is very hard to justify to any objective onlooker.

The second concern, and one which affects all law enforcement agencies, is that this type of action while carried out by one specific agency, raises public disquiet as to whether or not law enforcement should be allowed to engage in such activities under any circumstances.  This has the potential to lead to a legitimate tactic being removed because it has been misused.

How such operations come to be undertaken is more clearly understood if one analyses the various psychological factors that are likely to come into play under similar type circumstances. Firstly, where police have reason to believe that a person is dealing drugs to young people they will be keen to apprehend the offender and protect the potential victims. Secondly, they will probably have limited resources to carry out the investigation and be under a degree of time pressure to do so quickly.  They will quickly realize that easiest way to get the dealer is probably to do a ‘buy bust’ type operation, while at the same time excluding other methods that would take longer or cost more. All that then remains for those involved to do is to rationalize and self-justify why the method suggested is the only way, despite the obvious serious risk to the young person involved.  It is at this point in time that numerous psychological factors kick in, that enable all involved to think that their plan is a good one. These factors are well known to risk management professionals and include such things as an over confidence in one’s professional abilities, a willingness to take risks knowing that if it goes wrong there is no personal cost and a fixation on the goal regardless of the potential cost. Post such an operation the self-justification and rationalization continue citing the fact of the result gained while ignoring the costs which include, in this case, damage to the credibility of law enforcement as a whole, the potential psychological damage to the young person involved and the threat to their life, that they are now exposed to.

In a later blog we will discuss how juveniles can be used safely as confidential informants but for now what is offered is a thought to all involved in carrying out such operations or authorizing them: ‘If it was your 14 year old son how would you feel about a police department using them in this way?’ And those involved in the operation will immediately jump to confirm that they would; further evidence of the rationalization of something that the objective onlooker views as reckless behavior.

John regularly advises ABM in relation to the development of abmpegasus software for managing confidential informants and is the author of ‘Invest Now or Pay later – The management of risk in covert law enforcement.’

If you would like more information on using juveniles as confidential informants please contact John at john.buckley@abmsoftware.com. If you wish to see how the abmpegasus confidential informant management software can help you manage all informant operations contact Dawn Starling on dawn.starling@abmsoftware.com or +1 703-326-1366. Alternatively, please complete an ABM Software contact form and a member of our team will get in touch.

USA confidential informant management draws international attention

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A recent article published by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21939453  highlighted many of the concerns that have already been raised in the USA about the way in which confidential informants are currently managed in the US. What will be of interest to law enforcement is not the content of the report for similar issues frequently appear in US media, but the fact that the issues  raised have reached a threshold that they are of interest outside the US.

In recent years there has been an increase in the amount of public interest and scrutiny applied to how confidential informants are managed. Increasing public concern will dictate how law enforcement manages confidential informants in the future. If the experience of UK law enforcement  is anything to go by and all the indicators are that circumstances are being replicated then many agencies in the US need to take a good look at the structures they have in place to manage confidential informants.  The UK experience began with one or two ‘bad cases’ coming to the public notice, increasing criticism from judiciary and other public bodies, greater interest from citizens and more adverse reporting in the media particularly with regard to confidential informant related corruption and privacy violations.  In the UK this led to firstly the creation by police chiefs of national standards for confidential informant management and secondly the introduction of legislation pertaining to the management of confidential informants.

One only has to look at media reporting in the USA to see where there has been an increase in adverse comments about how confidential informants are managed to realize that there is significant debate going on. Added to this is the fact that both the Federal Government and a number of states have introduced legislation pertaining to confidential informant management and one can grasp that it is only time before other states follow suit.

There are a number of elements that form the core of public concern about how confidential informants are managed:

  •  The lack of accountability in regard to law enforcement actions with confidential informants.
  • The potential violation of citizens’ privacy rights by law enforcement when using confidential informants.
  • The risks that confidential informants are exposed to in return for limited potential benefit.
  • Concerns about the administration of justice with regard to the uncorroborated testimony of confidential informants and ‘big fish’ walking free because they have passed information relating to ‘little fish’.

A significant number of US agencies have recognized that the expectation that citizens now have in relation to the interaction between law enforcement and confidential informants. Such agencies have introduced specific training for their officers, new and comprehensive policies relating to confidential informants, and software to significantly enhance record keeping pertaining to confidential informants thus providing appreciably higher levels of accountability in all aspects of the business.

Other agencies seem totally unaware of the change in public expectation or are unwilling to invest resources to meet those expectations. Burying one’s head in the sand or crossing one’s fingers may seem like reasonable options but such an approach did not satisfy a court in Florida when it awarded $2.6 million dollars for the mismanagement of Rachael Hoffman, a confidential informant working for Tallahassee Police Department.

John regularly advises ABM in relation to the development of abmpegasus software for managing confidential informants. He has written two books on managing confidential informants and is an internationally recognized expert on confidential informantmanagement. His latest title, Managing Intelligence; A Guide for Law Enforcement Professionals, will be published in June and deals with the structures necessary for an agency to have an effective intelligence system.

abmpegasus is a modular piece of expert-led software that helps law enforcement agencies and police manage confidential informants, intelligence and covert operations in accordance with best practice, policy and legislation.

If you would like more information on the abmpegasus confidential informant management software please contact Dawn Starling on dawn.starling@abmsoftware.com  t: +1 703-326-1366 or complete an ABM Software contact form and a member of our team will get in touch.

If you would like advice or further information on confidential informant  related matters please to contact John at john.buckley@abmsoftware.com or contact +1 703-326-1366

 

New legislation will affect how confidential informants are managed in Washington State

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“As providers of the world’s leading software solution for confidential informant management we like to keep all our customers and potential customers informed of the latest developments in this arena, so sharing our unique expertise with the law enforcement community. In his latest blog John Buckley provides insight on new legislation being introduced in Washington State.

Following the murder of a confidential informant Jeremy McLean

http://tdn.com/news/local/death-of-an-informant-part/article_a181988c-4660-11e2-9be7-0019bb2963f4.html 

Washington Senator Adam Kline has introduced a new bill (5373) in the State Senate that will dictate how informants are to be managed in the future.

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2013-14/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5373.pdf

Many of the key elements of the proposed Bill can be found in similar legislation known as Rachel’s Law that has already been enacted in Florida following the death of another confidential informant Rachel Hoffman.  The legislation is likely to have a major impact on the interactions between law enforcement and potential confidential informants.  Agencies managing confidential informants are likely to notice a sharp increase in the records they are expected to keep and the amount of supervision that cases will require. Having said that agencies have little to be concerned about provided they are proactive in addressing the legislative requirements.

The following may help those responsible for managing confidential informants within their agency to be prepared for the changes that such legislation may bring.

  1. It is a good time for agencies to come together and consider setting up state-wide procedures for managing confidential informants. State-wide procedures create a much more robust regime and enable joint task forces to work together much more effectively and with significantly reduced conflict.
  2. Developing a more proactive approach to using confidential informants will increase the amount of intelligence that an agency obtains from its authorized confidential informants. Each agency should have a centralized register of all the confidential informants being used and the capability to task them against specific investigations. Such an approach is fundamental to the concept of intelligence led policing.
  3. With the advent of new rules and regulations it is a good time for house-keeping. The worth of every existing confidential informant should be evaluated and all re registered/authorized under the new regime. It is often surprising what such a review process turns up!
  4. Training is an essential part of managing confidential informants and no officer should be allowed to manage an informant without being trained to recognized standards. Lack of officer training is one of the main reasons that leads to the death of confidential informants. The setting of state-wide standards for training is hard to argue against.

While law enforcement has nothing to fear from legislation dictating how confidential informants should be managed, they do need to keep a close eye on the content of the legislation. Officers working on a regular basis with confidential informants will often see issues that the legislatures are totally unaware of.

For those readers outside the state of Washington now is a good time to take cognizance of the legislation in Washington and Florida, and make sure your own house is in order. These states are setting the standards that citizens expect of law enforcement and it is only a matter of time until you are facing similar legislation.

John regularly advises ABM in relation to the development of abmpegasus software for managing confidential informants. He has written two books on managing confidential informants and is an internationally recognized expert on confidential informant management. His latest title, Managing Intelligence; A Guide for Law Enforcement Professionals, will be published in June and deals with the structures necessary for an agency to have an effective intelligence system.

abmpegasus is a modular piece of expert-led software that helps law enforcement agencies and police manage confidential informants, intelligence and covert operations in accordance with best practice, policy and legislation.

If you would like more information on the abmpegasus confidential informant management software please contact Dawn Starling on dawn.starling@abmsoftware.com  t: +1 703-326-1366 or complete an ABM Software contact form and a member of our team will get in touch.

If you would like advice or further information on confidential informant  related matters please to contact John at john.buckley@abmsoftware.com or contact +1 703-326-1366

Major City Chief advocates key aspects of Intelligence Led Policing

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Our regular commentator John Buckley steps away from his usual topic of managing confidential informants to discuss the wider issue of intelligence led policing:

Unfortunately, there remain a significant number of senior managers in law enforcement who have no real understanding of the concept of intelligence led policing and how it should be used to protect citizens and enhance public safety. All too often we find managers who may mention ‘intelligence led policing’ in a sound-bite but then continue the conversation by demonstrating their lack of understanding of what the concept entails.  It is therefore refreshing to read of a Chief who not only advocates the concept but actually gets what it is about. In an article for the Baltimore Sun newspaper dated 31st March 1013, http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-batts-homicide-20130330,0,535844.story.  Referring to ‘five strategic pillars’, not only captures the key points of intelligence led policing but pretty much gets them in the order in which they should be considered. We can explore how the Police Department’s strategy follows the concept of intelligence led policing:

  1. “…concentration on violent offenders, gang members and guns…”  The first thing to do in intelligence led policing is for a Chief to identify their policing priorities and make sure that the police department is working towards those priorities. Law enforcement has limited resources. They can’t do everything and it is the Chief’s job to decide what are the most important things for their department to deal with.
  2. 2.      “…community engagement.”   There are many who perceive intelligence led policing as being a concept that is in conflict with that of community policing.  In reality it is the opposite – intelligence led policing and community policing feed off each other. There should be no conflict.  It is from within communities that a significant amount of information for intelligence purposes will originate. If law enforcement officers are not in those communities then they won’t get the intelligence they need to protect those communities.
  3. “…creating an ability to produce more actionable and timely intelligence…”  Unless an agency puts in place structures to collect information, process it to intelligence and use that intelligence to combat crime it is failing in its duty. It should be noted that intelligence is not analysis of crime figures. While analysing crime statistics can help it should never be confused with intelligence led policing.
  4. 4.      “…encouraging better data-sharing with our state and federal partners…” There is little point in having intelligence unless structures are in place to share it internally and externally with those who can make use of it. All too often intelligence ends up in some detective’s desk drawer or hidden forever in a stand alone computer.
  5. 5.      “…ethics, integrity and accountability.”  Gathering and using intelligence by its very nature engages civil liberty issues and raises legitimate concerns with the public. Furthermore, many intelligence gathering techniques involve significant risks, all of which need to be documented and managed. Only by building intelligence management structures that operate on an ethical basis and keeping effective records can law enforcement hope to maintain community support for intelligence related activities.

Intelligence led policing strategy is a highly effective policing strategy. It can be implemented within any police agency and if done properly will enhance public safety and prevent crime. Unfortunately, while many are happy to talk the talk, fewer take the time to understand the how to actually walk the walk.

John regularly advises ABM in relation to the development of abmpegasus™ software for managing intelligence. His latest title, Managing Intelligence; A Guide for Law Enforcement Professionals, will be published in September. John can be reached at john.buckley@abmsoftware.com

abmpegasus™ is a modular piece of expert-led software that helps law enforcement agencies and police manage information, intelligence and covert operations in accordance with best practice, policy and legislation.

If you would like more information on the abmpegasus intelligence management software please contact Dawn Starling on dawn.starling@abmsoftware.com t: +1 703-326-1366 or complete an ABM Software contact form and a member of our team will get in touch.

Maximizing the benefits of confidential informants

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As a consultant, managers often ask me how they can improve the level of return they get when using confidential informants. Managing a confidential informant incurs significant expense, in terms of the amount of officer time involved in managing them and the actual rewards paid to informants. Add to this the inherent risks that the agency carries when using confidential informants and potential cost increases. Given the expectation that law enforcement is continually being asked to do more with less resources, it is hardly surprising that Chiefs expect significant returns for their agency when allowing their staff to take on costly and potentially high risk activity such as managing confidential informants.

There are a number of things that an agency can do to increase the productivity and maximize the benefits of using confidential informants (and the officers managing them):

  • Every agency should have a comprehensive centralized list of all registered informants. Too many agencies still keep informants in ‘silos’ with confidential informants being viewed as the property of individual officers or specialized units.
  • There should be a single point of contact from which all confidential informants registered within the agency can be centrally tasked to meet intelligence requirements. The capability should exist to instantaneously identify which confidential informants have the potential to address the requirement and the agency should be able to deliver such tasking at the touch of a button.
  • Confidential informants who are not providing intelligence that meets the Chief’s policing priorities should be deregistered. Meeting informants who aren’t addressing intelligence priorities wastes valuable resources. If a requirement for their services arises in the future they can be reactivated. Informants should be viewed as an integral part of any ‘intelligence-led policing’ strategy.
  • Officers managing confidential informants need specific training on how to interview informants to obtain the maximum amount of information from them. Obtaining information from a confidential informant should not be viewed as ‘having a chat’ but as a structured debriefing process.
  • The agency must have software that takes the information obtained by the officer handling the confidential informant and conveys it to an intelligence unit where it can be properly assessed, stored and disseminated to those requiring it. Paper-based systems are time consuming and do not have evidential integrity of software-based systems as information is often lost or misplaced,
  • The agency should have performance metrics in place, both for officers and confidential informants, which enable managers to readily identify who is being productive and what is being produced.
  • An analyst should be tasked on a regular basis with identifying gaps in the coverage provided by existing confidential informants so that new informants can be proactively recruited to fill the intelligence need.
  • Larger agencies should consider setting up proactive recruitment units with highly-trained officers to proactively recruit and manage confidential informants in organized crime gangs and terrorist organizations.

Most of these changes can be undertaken by any agency willing to make a limited investment for a significant return. However, there is little point in taking all the risks in managing confidential informants only to waste most of the potential benefits that confidential informants can bring because of a limited paper-based management system.

John regularly advises ABM in relation to the development of abmpegasus software for managing confidential informants and has written several books on intelligence management and confidential informants. His book ‘The Human Source Management System’ provides detailed insight on the proactive recruitment and management of confidential informants. John he can be contacted by email john.buckley@abmsoftware.com

abmpegasus is a modular piece of expert-led software that helps law enforcement agencies and police manage information, intelligence and covert operations in accordance with best practice, policy and legislation.

If you would like more information on maximizing the benefits of confidential informants or the abmpegasus confidential informant management software please contact Dawn Starling on dawn.starling@abmsoftware.com  or +1 703-326-1366. Alternatively, please complete an ABM Software contact form and a member of our team will get in touch.

 

How to manage citizen informants

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Lynchburg Police Department in Virginia recently publicized a scheme where they are using ‘concerned reliable citizens’ to provide the police department with information on drug activity.

In this blog ABM Software Consultant and confidential informant management expert, John Buckley, admits that while such schemes can have benefits they also carry risks that are not often apparent. John also offers expert advice on managing citizen informants.

Encouraging citizens to pass information on criminality to law enforcement is a necessary and commendable action for any police department to undertake. However, with any such scheme it is vital that the agency creates structures to adequately protect the citizens passing on the information and to ensure that they gain maximum benefit for the efforts they make and the risks they undertake.

 

advice on using citizen informants

What law enforcement agencies should consider when deciding whether to use citizen informants 

One of the first aspects that needs considered is the ability of the law enforcement agency to protect those passing the information and from this standpoint a myriad of questions arise. Does the agency have specific procedures for managing such people? Have the officers involved received adequate training for their role? Does the agency have identified structures to record all details of the history of the agency’s relationship with these individuals and the contact the agency has had with them? What risk assessments are carried out with regard to the safety of these people and how are those risks subsequently managed?

Moving on from these initial considerations it is important to consider whether or not the citizen has been made aware of the risks they are taking and what instruction they have been given in regard to them avoiding self compromise? It is far from unusual for a person unfamiliar with criminality to compromise themselves through careless talk or action. A simple question such as “who have you told you are helping the police?” will often reveal the fact that they have told a significant number of people they believe can be trusted. Carelessness in such regard will often lead to the criminals finding out the person’s role and result in them being threatened or attacked. This then begs the question “then what?” Does the agency have a mechanism to protect the person? Does it operate a witness protection-style scheme or will the concerned citizen, in the event of a compromise, be left to fend for themselves?

A third concern with regard to such a program relates to how effectively the information from such citizens is managed and exploited. Does the agency have identified policing priorities and is the information collected to address these priorities or is the agency led, not by a structured intelligence-based approach, but by knee jerk responses to reports by citizens? It is easy to end up being led by the informant as opposed to by what the Chief has set out as the priorities for the agency.

It is a good thing for an agency to be proactive in maximizing the information they receive from citizens but a failure to do it effectively reduces the benefits and a failure to do it safely costs lives.

John regularly advises ABM in relation to the development of abmpegasus – the world’s leading software for managing confidential informants – and has written several books on intelligence management and confidential informants. His latest title, Managing Intelligence; a Guide for Law Enforcement Professionals, will be published in June.

If you would like further information on abmpegasus or advice on using citizen informants please email dawn.starling@abmsoftware.com or, alternatively, please contact our sales office on +1 703 326 366 to arrange a demonstration.

 

The importance of record keeping when managing confidential informants

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The importance of record keeping when managing confidential informants (CIs) is paramount to any successful investigation. It not only provides evidence, if recorded to evidential standards, record also ensure you manage CIs both effectively and lawfully.

Using an effective confidential informant record system such as abmpegasus gives all officers involved in a case the latest status and activity of informants. If these records are kept to judicial standards not only will the informant be more likely to be effectively, and lawfully managed but you will be able to prove what occurred in meetings with the informant to the satisfaction of a court. Furthermore such records protect your agency from allegations of incompetence and/or deliberate wrongdoing.

abmpegasussoftware for managing and recording confidential informants

In this blog ABM Software consultant and CI expert, John Buckley, reflects on the recent case of David M. Kammeyer in Chippwea where 22 year old Kammeyer saw appeal against his drug conviction upheld:

While each case will stand or fall on the information and particulars given it comes as no surprise that courts will exclude evidence if doubt is cast upon the circumstances under which it was obtained. All too often poor record keeping in relation to how an informant has been managed and how the information they have provided has been corroborated, leads to any subsequent evidence being thrown out in court.

A lot of the problems come down to poorly constructed systems for managing both informants and the information they produce.

John gives three pieces of expert advice on minimising the risks of informant related evidence being ruled inadmissible:

  1. You must have comprehensive records of all dealings with the informant. This will include written reports for every contact including what was said and done, and by whom. These records go towards providing the basis of informant’s knowledge and the veracity of the information they have provided [See Gates v Illinois 462 U.S. 213 238 (1983)].
  2. If you are going to use confidential informants in an evidential chain you must know the legislation and case law under which they will be scrutinised in court. Poor understanding of relevant case law often compounds problems of poor record keeping.
  3.  Use purpose built software for managing confidential informants. Paper records are inefficient compared to a computerised system and properly constructed software protects the integrity of the data within that system. Any software used must meet evidential standards with regard to auditing changes made to records that may be used in court.

John regularly advises ABM in relation to the development of abmpegasus software for managing confidential informants and has written several books on intelligence management and confidential informants. His latest title, Managing Intelligence; A Guide for Law Enforcement Professionals, is out this year.

abmpegasus is a modular piece of expert-led software that helps law enforcement agencies and police manage information, intelligence and covert operations in accordance with best practice, policy and legislation.

If you would like more information on the abmpegasus confidential informant management software please contact Dawn Starling on or complete an ABM Software contact form and a member of our team will get in touch.

How to manage confidential informants (CIs) in terrorism investigations

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Infiltrating a confidential informant into a group of suspected terrorists is a perfectly legitimate law enforcement technique. In reality it may be the only way to prevent a terrorist attack. However, if good practice is not followed, it can lead to concerns and, as seen with the FBI, allegations that the offenses would never have taken place if the “confidential informant” wasn’t hired.

Following recent criticism of the FBI’s use of confidential informants in terrorism investigations, confidential informant expert and ABM Software Consultant, John Buckley, discusses recent concerns and gives advice and tips on how to manage CIs in terrorism stings to avoid damaging the legitimacy of the investigation and running the risk of CIs being branded as agent provocateurs.

Criticism regarding the use of confidential informants in terrorism investigations
New York’s Joint Terrorism Task Force investigators have increasingly used “confidential informants” to get close to and arrest potential terror suspects before they actually commit any crime. The latest example involved 21-year-old Bangladeshi student, Quazi Mohammed Nafis, who had no provable connections with al-Qaeda and no terrorism funding source, but was persuaded by an FBI-hired informant to carry out a bomb plot in New York.

Another case in recent years against four Newburgh men that reportedly attempted to blow up synagogues in the Bronx has also drawn criticism and created a general opinion that confidential informants have too much freedom in luring suspects into committing acts they would have never imagined otherwise. In that case, a confidential informant offered to provide the suspects with missiles to launch at the Jewish synagogue. After handing down minimum jail terms to three of the men, Manhattan Federal Court Judge, Colleen McMahon, slammed government investigators for their tactics.

Failing to address the concerns raised in these allegations not only damages public confidence in law enforcement but also leaves minority communities feeling ostracised from the criminal justice system which could affect the outcome at trial.

How to manage confidential informants in counter terrorism investigations
Sadly a report by the Department of Justice Office found FBI agents failed to follow their own guidelines in 87% of all investigations involving confidential informants, giving the public little confidence in such investigations. However, by following a few simple steps law enforcement agencies can ensure they manage CIs effectively and mitigate the risks of criticism:

  1. No confidential informant should ever be used unless their “activity” behaviour has been authorised at an appropriate level within the law enforcement agency.
  2. The authorising officer must be satisfied that the activities of the informant are necessary and the activity is proportionate to what it seeks to achieve.
  3. The officer authorising the informant should be independent of the investigation.
  4. The potential benefits of the operation should be documented as well as all the risks involved. Only then should the informant be deployed.
  5. When deciding to use an informant to further an investigation, the authorising officer should take note of the ability and credibility of the informant and the strength of the existing intelligence available on the suspects.
  6. Comprehensive records of every contact the agency has with the informant should be made.
  7. The informant should be debriefed after every contact with those under investigation.
  8.  All records should be kept to evidential standards.
  9. If the informant will be involved in a criminal conspiracy with those under investigation, or be involved in any other criminal offense, the level of authorisation should be raised to a senior rank within the agency.
  10. Doubts about the mental health or vulnerability of any of the suspects should be documented as soon as they become apparent. This can help to mitigate an argument that the suspects were exploited.
  11. Meetings between the informant and the suspects should be recorded and consideration should be given to recording the meetings between officers and the informant.
  12.  Independent verification of the activities of the suspects should always be a priority.
  13. The early involvement of legal counsel should be considered as good practice.
  14. There should be ongoing review of the progress of the operation by the officer who authorised the use of the informant.

Following these guidelines may not stop allegations of CIs acting as agent provocateurs but they will make them a lot easier to refute and help to improve public confidence.

John regularly advises ABM on the development of software for managing covert operations and intelligence and has written several books surrounding the topics of intelligence management and confidential informants. His latest book, Managing Intelligence; A Guide for Law Enforcement Professionals, is due to be released next year.

If you would like more information on ABM’s confidential informant management software (abmpegasus source management) and how it can help you manage confidential informants in counter terrorism investigations please email info@abmsoftware.com or visit our abmpegasus page on our website.

 

FBI leak confidential informant details in motorcycle gang investigation

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It is unfortunate when any law enforcement operation is compromised. However, there is little that is more frustrating for those involved than when there are suspicions that the operation has been deliberately compromised by a corrupt officer.

Unfortunately this is commonplace and is the suspected case in a recent motorcycle gang investigation in Georgia where the name of a government informant was leaked which compromised – and abruptly halted – an undercover investigation of alleged criminal activity by members of the Outlaw Motorcycle Club.

While undoubtedly there will be an investigation as to what happened in Georgia there are generic lessons that can be learned that will benefit police using informants. So whether you’re a police agency in America, a police service in Australia or a police force in the UK, ABM Consultant and confidential informant management expert, John Buckley has three pieces of expert advice to help avoid the pitfalls of CI mismanagement.

How to manage confidential informants successfully

  1. Keep the true identity of every confidential informant secure and ensure only those that need to know have access to that file.
  2. Audit who has had access to the informant file and when that access occurred.
  3. Document and manage all risks to the informant while they are engaged in activities for the benefit of law enforcement.

There was a time when the only options that law enforcement agencies had for storing an informant’s details were in an officer’s head or in a paper file. Thankfully those days are past and computers offer a much more secure and efficient way of managing a confidential informant file. And with a wide range of sophisticated police software out there, managing confidential informants has never been easier.

abmpegasus is a modular piece of software that helps police manage information, intelligence and covert operations in accordance with best practice, policy and the law. By maximising accountability and productivity, it offers protection to citizens and police agencies whilst ensuring operational integrity surrounding confidential informant management, surveillance, witness protection, suspicious activity reports (SARs), communications interception and undercover operations.

John has written several books surrounding the topics of intelligence management and confidential informants, and his latest book, Managing Intelligence; A Guide for Law Enforcement Professionals, is due to be released next year.

If you would like more information on abmpegasus software please contact ABM on info@abmsoftware.com or complete one of our ABM Software contact forms and a member of our team will get in touch.