#WHATS AN INFORMANT MANUAL#

The equitable and vigilant magistrate conducted him out of the city under a guard, lest the populace should have stoned him. The ancient Roman historian Lactantius described a judiciary case which involved the prosecution of a woman suspected to have advised another woman not to marry Maximinus II: 'Neither indeed was there any accuser, until a certain Jew, one charged with other offences, was induced, through hope of pardon, to give false evidence against the innocent. Informers in some countries receive a percentage of all monies recovered by their government. Officials may be taking bribes or be participants in a money loop also called a kickback. Informers alert authorities regarding government officials that are corrupt.

#WHATS AN INFORMANT MANUAL#

Politics Ī redacted version of the FBI policy manual concerning the use of informants Paid informants have often been used by authorities within politically and socially oriented movements to weaken, destabilize and ultimately break them. They may be willing accomplices, or may be tricked into informing on their co-workers' unionization efforts. Such individuals may be professionals or recruits from the workforce. Ĭorporations and the detective agencies that sometimes represent them have historically hired labor spies to monitor or control labor organizations and their activities. Genuine desire to assist law enforcement and society.Diversion of suspicion from their own criminal activities.Elimination of competitors engaged in criminal activities.Elimination of rivals or unwanted criminal associates.Withdrawal or dismissal of criminal charges.

Generally, informants' motivations can be broken down into self-interest, self-preservation and conscience. Law enforcement officers, prosecutors, defense lawyers, judges and others should be aware of possible motivations so that they can properly approach, assess and verify informants' information. Many informants provide information while under stress, duress, emotion and other life factors that can affect the accuracy or veracity of information provided. Many informants are not themselves aware of all of their reasons for providing information, but nonetheless do so.

Informants, and especially criminal informants, can be motivated by many reasons. Informers are therefore generally protected, either by being segregated while in prison or, if they are not incarcerated, relocated under a new identity.įBI Anchorage aid for assessing confidential human sources Whatever the nature of a group, it is likely to feel strong hostility toward any known informers, regard them as threats and inflict punishments ranging from social ostracism through physical abuse and/or death. Informants are often regarded as traitors by their former criminal associates. Informants may be shown leniency for their own crimes in exchange for information, or simply turn out to be dishonest in their information, resulting in the time and money spent acquiring them being wasted. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies may face criticism regarding their conduct towards informants. Any citizen who provides crime related information to law enforcement by definition is an informant. Informants are extremely common in every-day police work, including homicide and narcotics investigations.

Whats an informant