The leader of a multi-agency anti-narcotics team in Contra Costa county (California) was charged this week having allegedly been caught on film selling a pound of methamphetamine to a confidential informant. The officer had allegedly stolen the drugs from a law enforcement evidence locker, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Working in cahoots with another man, the officer is reported to have raided evidence lockers on various occasions in a bid to boost his earnings before retirement.

This is yet another example of the need to improve processes and procedures surrounding undercover narcotics operations – operations might be sensitive and confidential but this doesn’t mean they can’t be subject to good management oversight.

Two suspected drug dealers have just had their charges dropped after the Sheriff’s department decided that the confidential informant who was crucial to the case was unreliable. As reported by The News Tribune, Pierce County sheriff’s office (Washington state) decided that the case against the two men could not stand as the confidential informant‘s testimony had come under question.

It’s  a pity that the Sheriff’s department hadn’t established the informant’s reliability before arresting the two men. As a result of their u-turn, the credibility of the law enforcement agency has been dented and the two men at the centre of the allegations are free to continue as they had before. The medical-marijuana cooperative that they operate has apparently opened a second site.

Assessing the credibility of confidential informants is an important and essential part of the CI management process, particularly when criminal cases depend heavily on their testimony. Law enforcement agencies should make sure that processes and procedures are in place to ensure confidential informants’ proper assessment for reliability and risk.

Police officer Erik McGarrity has resigned from Vancouver Police (Washington state) amid allegations of engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a confidential informant. As reported by The Columbian, an investigation by Washington State Patrol found that the informant, a 25-year-old woman, worked as an informant for 43-year-old McGarrity (who was married with children) on drug related crimes in 2007. The following year a sexual relationship started between them.

Although McGarrity’s alleged actions were not illegal, they contravene the police department’s policy that continued association with those involved in criminal activity must be avoided.

It is difficult to eliminate the potential for this sort of situation to arise. However, introduction of clear professional standards and accountability surrounding the use and management of confidential informants, along with proper systems to record and monitor activity would help to improve professionalism and make it more obvious for senior officers when police officers’ relationships with informants risk overstepping the line of acceptability.