Tag Archives: Florida

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

City Settles on $2.6m Payout for Death of Confidential Informant

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The city of Tallahassee, Florida, has approved a $2.6m settlement after the parents of Rachel Hoffman sued the city for negligence leading to the death of their 23-year-old daughter in 2008. Hoffman had been arrested for minor drugs offences and agreed to act as a confidential informant for police in order to get leniency in her sentencing. Unfortunately, the drugs sting went disastrously wrong, ending up with Hoffman being shot dead by the drug dealers that the police were trying to incriminate.

Since these unfortunate events, the state of Florida has introduced “Rachel’s Law”, requiring law enforcement agencies to provide specialist training for confidential informant handlers and implement better safeguards.

Some law enforcement agencies have taken the example of Tallahassee very seriously, implementing robust management processes to reduce the risk associated with confidential informants. However, other agencies still need to take a more proactive approach towards ensuring that informants are used more carefully and intelligently. Rachel’s Law is a good step forward in improving US practices regarding informants, but there is still more progress to be made. Let’s hope that other states take some of these lessons on board and that every effort is made to enhance the requirements under Rachel’s Law to ensure that opportunities for risky practices are further removed.

Memorial vigil for Rachel Hoffman

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Marking three years since the death of her daughter, Margie Weiss will be leading a memorial vigil in Tallahassee today to commemorate the life of Rachel Hoffman. The 23-year-old university graduate was murdered on 7th May, 2008 following a botched drug operation in which she was acting as a confidential informant. Since then, new legislation has been introduced in Florida to improve the management of confidential informants. Read more about Rachel’s Law.

Confidential Informants – Where is it going?

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Much is being written about the ‘Confidential Informant‘ culture in the US and it is fair to say that in many ways this is positive.  However, as is normally the case, the negative has to be reported and inevitably it is this, which receives the most airtime.  Of course, using informants is not just an activity adopted in the US, it is without doubt a global culture.

The difference is the rules that determine how you use informants, particularly when it comes to managing and regulating them.   More important is how the risk assessment is considered and measured along with the individual’s rights and welfare.  Officers and supervisors have to ensure they have done what is possible to mitigate any risk.  The clear documentation of this is important, because if things do go wrong, and a positive trail of management can be followed, it will protect all participants; informants and officers alike.

In the UK the regulation of informants, or sources, is very robust. There is not only legislation, but very clear guidelines on the use and management of sources.  In the US, the recent introduction of ‘Rachel’s Law’ is being written into all Florida Police Departments’ standard operating procedures and of course, this brings more transparency and management. Other countries are also following suit.

What I have found interesting is that the use of informants is generally to achieve an objective; to prevent and detect crime.  Whether this is simply to record intelligence that can then be fed into the bigger picture, or indeed intelligence that a crime is about to be committed, the means to the end is just the same. Many officers who deal with informants are dedicated professionals with a high level of training. Unfortunately, I suspect where it can fall down, is the lack of ability to accurately record all the details when dealing with an informant. This is important because if clear data and structured information can be recorded and maintained when dealing with informants, the added protection not only to the informant but the officer is incalculable. This is reinforced by a firm but accountable management structure that would come with this type of regime.

It is becoming very obvious that the simple use of a spreadsheet or in-house Access database is not sufficient to manage all the information and requirements asked of officers involved in the handling of informants.  A move to a more robust and professionally developed electronic system is going to be necessary. In addition to this, the providers of these systems will also need to have knowledge not only of the electronic system requirements, but a strong awareness of the practicalities of handling informants and the infrastructure that supports the activities along with good comprehension of the business process. Strong and knowledgeable Consultants are going to be the key for this type of task along with the ability to ensure the product to process fit is exact.

Rewarding the informant

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Florida‘s media appear to be getting themselves worked up about rewarding a confidential informantwho helped police to capture a man accused of killing two Tampa police officers. Despite the promise of a $100,000 reward for anyone providing information leading to the arrest of Dontae Morris who shot dead two police officers on Tuesday 29th June, it is not clear whether the confidential informant who helped police will be entitled to any of the reward money. This is because Confidential Informants are not treated as normal members of the public and are therefore not eligible for reward money.

The majority of media reporters clearly feel that the informant should be rewarded for his efforts and take the view that failure to reward the informant could reduce the incentive for people to come forward with information related to future crimes.

Lying informant leads to release of over 20 prisoners

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Another US law enforcement agency has been learning the cost of relying on dishonest confidential informants. Wink News has reported that a confidential informant working for DeSoto County Sheriff’s drug task force, has admintted to lying and fabricating evidence to help incriminate alleged drug dealers. The State Attorney has dismissed over 20 cases that the informant was involved in.

Confidential informants are a hugely valuable intelligence resource for law enforcement, but they have to be treated very carefully and the evidence or intelligence gained from them must be rigorously assessed for reliability.

Confidential informant crisis averted

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Further demonstrating the risk surrounding confidential informants The Herald Tribune reported today about a drugs sting that almost went wrong. A confidential informant working for the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office got into the car of two suspected drug dealers only to be taken hostage. Fortunately, crisis was averted as the police caught up with the car and arrested the two suspects. This is yet more evidence of the need to have rigorous processes and procedures in place to manage confidential informants.

The latest on Rachel Hoffman

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As reported by Tallahassee.com Andrea Green has been sentenced to life imprisonment having been convicted of first degree murder following his involvement in the shooting of Rachel Hoffman. 23-year-old student Hoffman was working for Tallahassee Police as a Confidential Informant after she was arrested for minor drugs offences in 2008. Unfortunately, Tallahassee Police lost track of Rachel Hoffman and she ended up dead. Andrea Green is the second man to be sentenced - Deneilo Bradshaw was convicted in December 2009.

The Rachel Hoffman debacle has sent shockwaves across Florida and the US. In Florida it led to the introduction of Rachel’s Law which required law enforcement agencies using confidential informants to improve their processes and procedures surrounding the use of confidential informants. The Hoffman case illustrates the long lasting impacts that failed management of confidential informants has – the high profile story continues to dominate headlines almost two years after the event.

Managing confidential informants is a risky business

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Despite the risk involved in confidential informants, it seems surprising how often law enforcement agencies appear to get it wrong. The latest example of failed confidential informant management concerns an Alamonte Springs Police Department lieutenant who, according to The Palm Beach Post, allegedly downloaded the list of informants on to a portable drive but accidentally left it on the roof of his car before driving home.

If confidential informants don’t have confidence that law enforcement agencies will manage their details properly, they will stop helping in the fight against crime. Law enforcement agencies must review their policies and procedures to make sure that confidential informants’ identities and information is protected and managed. After all, the consequence of a compromising confidential informant’s identity can be (literally) fatal.

abmpegasus Source Management is a software system designed to ensure that confidential informants are properly and effectively managed.

The ripples of the Hoffman case continue

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A year and a half after the tragic killing of Rachel Hoffman in Florida, the case continues to remain in the spotlight. Deneilo Bradshaw, who is one of the two men accused of the killing, is due to go on trial. However, the high profile nature of the case means that over 500 potential jurors are being called in order to try to find an impartial jury. There’s a strong chance that the case will have to be performed in another state where the case is less well known.

The Hoffman case illustrates the high risk nature of covert policing and the need to have strong management and control procedures when dealing with confidential informants.