Informant Usage in Drug Cases

Informants are a valuable resource for drug law enforcement

A confidential informant is an individual who volunteers to work closely with law enforcement in criminal investigations. The role of the informant is to collect and provide information from within the organization about crimes committed.

Source of Informants

Narcotics' arrests that amount to charges of simple possession comprise the largest source of informants for law enforcement. These potential informants are offered reduced sentences or immunity in exchange for information that may be used to make a case against individuals who are higher in the "chain" of their criminal activity.

What Informants Do

Drug distribution follows a chain of individuals that includes a manufacturer and a number of smugglers and dealers. An informant can be of any "rank" in the chain of drug distribution, and subsequently used as a witness to crimes committed by suspects who outrank him.

Ethical Problems

Since informants act as a bridge between law enforcement and criminal activity, ethical issues arise in the treatment of information obtained from these individuals. Informants can be coerced back into criminal activity or prone to lie under duress. The narcotics officers who work with informants may overlook the illegal activities of their informants in pursuit of valuable information about more serious crimes. The Drug Policy Alliance specifically cites officer/informant relationships of this type as a problem in the War on Drugs. Despite this, informants are still widely used in investigations.

References

• Drug Policy Alliance: Informants
• Police Chief Magazine: Ethical Issues in the Use of Confidential Informants for Narcotic Operations