POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Subject / Date / Section No. / Page No.Use of Narcotic Informants / 801 / 6
I. Purpose
To establish guidelines for the use of confidential informants.
II. Policy
The Edgefield County Sheriff’s Office recognizes that the use of confidential informants, confidential sources, and anonymous sources are absolutely essential in many types of investigations. This policy is not set forth to remove the investigator’s discretion on informant use, but is a guideline for the administrative handling of informants. All Edgefield County Sheriff’s Office confidential informants and sources will be documented for purpose of reliability and accountability.
II. Definitions
Confidential Informant- Any non-law enforcement person who is providing information to a degree where it is necessary that they may testify in court proceeding reference their information, they will receive either a monetary benefit for their assistance, or working off charges to receive a reduced sentence. A confidential informant can also be a person known to an investigator who provides criminal information.
Confidential Source- A person known to an investigator, who gives information,
but does not wish to be identified or take an active part in an investigation.
Anonymous Source- An unidentified person who provides information.
Entrapment- Activity on the part of an investigator or on behalf of his agency
that induces or lures an otherwise innocent person to commit a crime that he did not contemplate committing. It is the implanting of criminal intent into the mind of the person. This includes acts of persuasion, coercion, trickery or fraud carried out by law enforcement officers or their agents, to induce a person to commit a crime that he would otherwise not commit.
III. Procedure
A. Establishment of an informant file system
1. The Narcotics Section Supervisor shall be solely responsible for developing
and maintaining secure master informant files. It should be noted that juveniles used in this capacity are handled no differently than adults, and are
subject to a thorough background investigation. Included in the juvenile informant file will be a signed parental consent form. A separate set of index files will be maintained in the Narcotics Section computer system and accessible to all narcotics investigators.
2. A file and indexing system shall be maintained on each confidential informant. (adult and juvenile). Each file shall be coded with an assigned informant control number and shall contain the following information.
a. Informant name
b. Name of investigator initiating use of the informant
c. Informants photograph and criminal history record
e. Lists of all payments made to the informant will reference the case
number which payment pertains to
f. Special skills and vocations
g. Date of birth
h. Aliases
i. Height, weight, hair color, eye color, race, sex, scars, marks tattoos and
other distinguishing features
j. Current home address, telephone number, pager and cellular if available
k. Residential addresses over the past five years
l. Current employers, position, addresses and telephone numbers
m. Marital status and number of children
n. Vehicles owned
o. Places frequented
p. Briefs of information provided by the confidential informant and his or
her reliability. If an informant is determined to be unreliable, the
informant’s file shall be ear-marked as “unreliable” and filed.
3. The informant files shall be utilized in order to:
a. Provide a source of verifiable background information about the
informant.
b. Provide for review and evaluation by the appropriate supervisor
information given by the informant.
c. Minimize incidents that could be used to question the integrity of
investigators or reliability of the confidential informant.
4. Access to the informant files shall be restricted to the Sheriff, Captain,
Lieutenant of Investigations, and the Narcotics Supervisor. Investigators may request permission from the Narcotics Supervisor to view an informant file. Those requests will be granted on a case by case basis.
B. Maintenance and Evaluation of Informant Files
1. An extensive initial interview is necessary to properly evaluate an informant.
The investigator should attempt to:
a. Establish the informant’s motive;
b. evaluate the informant’s capabilities and truthfulness; and
c. evaluate and document information provided by the confidential informant.
2. All new informant files will be checked by the investigator’s chain of
command for accuracy and content. Supervisors will initial and date file
indicating their approval and that all guidelines have been satisfied.
3. Informant work is based upon their information concerning criminal activity.
There are periods of off time when an informant may not have information
necessary to develop criminal cases. If this period of time exceeds one year,
a complete up to date background check must be completed by the
investigator and reviewed by the chain of command.
4. All persons determined to be unsuitable for use as a confidential informant
shall be referenced in the unreliable informant file.
5. An investigator wishing to utilize an unreliable informant must receive
approval from the Narcotics Supervisor.
C. Compensation of Informants
1. Informants may receive monetary compensation from the Narcotics Non-
Discretionary Fund. Investigators will adhere to the following procedure
when payments are made.
a. All informant payments require a receipt which must be signed by the
informant, the investigator making the payment and a witness.
All receipts are to be placed in the informant’s file.
b. All payments must be documented properly in the informant
activity/expenses log contained in the informant file, and will be coded
with the same number uniquely given to that particular informant.
c. All payments to a confidential informant for services rendered relating to
an open case will be documented in both the case file and the informant
file.
D. Control of Informants.
1. All Narcotics Section guidelines and regulations governing the informants’
behavior and working conditions are explained in detail to the informant by the Investigator. This will include a section advising the informants of their responsibility to report to the Internal Revenue Service all monies paid to the confidential informant by the Narcotics Division of the Edgefield County Sheriff’s Office.
a. Informants will be arrested if found engaging in any illegal activity. They
will receive no special legal considerations.
b. No member of this agency shall knowingly maintain a social relationship
with confidential informants or otherwise become personally involved with confidential informants.
c. Members of this agency shall not solicit, accept gratuities or engage in any
private business transactions with confidential informants.
d. At all times, an officer shall always be accompanied by another
officer when meeting a confidential informant.
e. Juvenile informants will not normally be used in undercover operations. If the use of juveniles is deemed appropriate, written parental permission
must be obtained.
f. The investigator will not make promises that he cannot keep. Any
agreement regarding pending criminal charges against an informant will
be made solely by the Solicitor’s Office, with detailed documents in the
informant files.
g. The investigator should use an appropriate amount of discretion when using an informant of the opposite sex, as not to make an investigation more susceptible to compromise through alleged improprieties. Investigators will be accompanied by another officer at meetings with informants.
h. The Investigator should attempt to determine from the confidential informant whether he or she is being used by another law enforcement agency.
E. Informant Motivation
1. The most significant motivating factors concerning the utilization of
informants are:
a. Money: Caution should be observed because information and targets can
become scarce. Informants can become creative to maintain their
income.
b. Revenge: Spite or retaliation.
c. Elimination of competition: Diverting suspicion from the informant to
further their criminal behavior
d. Fear: Ranges from fear of law enforcement to current or past associates.
e. Self-aggrandizement; Informants seek to enhance their image of self
importance. These individuals tend to brag about their exploits and are
often compromised.
f. Judicial leniency: Serious problems can develop when an agent makes
unauthorized promises of leniency.
g. Concerned citizen: A person who may provide information out of concern
for the well being of the community.
F. Problems with Informants
1. Informants can cause an agency numerous problems if they do not receive
strict supervision from agents. Some of these problems include:
a. Lying: Informants may exaggerate or fabricate the criminal acts of targets.
Some may report the truth, but not divulge the illegal means used to obtain the information.
b. Double-dealing: Informants can make deals with targets and the police.
They can provide criminal associates with the identity of undercover investigators, cars they drive, hours they work, agency tactics and procedures.
c. Rip-offs: Informants can position themselves to arrange rip-offs of large
flash rolls. They can sell information to different agencies causing duplication of effort.
d. Blackmail: Informants may attempt to establish a relationship with an agent for the purpose of causing conflicts of interest. This underscores the need for agents to maintain strict non-social relationships with informants.
G. Protecting the Confidential Informant
1. Courts may at times order the production of confidential informants. This
agency and the Solicitor’s Office must weigh the ramifications of disclosing an
informant’s identity against the possible loss of a criminal case. The following
illustrate some of the circumstances under which an informant’s identity may
be disclosed.
a. He/she is the sole government participation in the case. The informant
witnessed a drug transaction or participated in transaction negotiations.
The confidential informant was an active participant in the events leading
to the offense.
b. Judges order to appear.
2. The investigator should consider using alternatives that will not result in the
disclosure of an informant’s identity. Some examples include:
a. Using the confidential informant for introductions and having an undercover officer develop the relationship with the target and execute any transactions.
b. If the confidential informant must be present, instruct him/her to leave the
location as soon as possible after negotiations on transactions begin.
c. Attempting to get the target to bring an associate who can be subpoenaed
at trial, thus making it unnecessary to bring the informant to court.
d. In the discretion of the investigator, utilize the informant to execute the
transaction, establish the informant reliability and probable cause requirements for issuance of
a search warrant. Initiate the search warrant and charge the suspect with
only those crimes arising from the results of the search warrant.
H. Investigator Pitfalls
1. Pitfalls for investigators tend to fall into six (6) categories:
a. Failure to maintain a professional relationship with informants.
b. Failure to question and corroborate informant information.
c. Making promises the agency cannot authorize.
d. Carelessness in handling money, property and evidence.
e. Failure to adequately document confidential informant activities.
f. Allowing unnecessary and unsupervised contact between the informant
and potential targets.
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Adell Dobey, Sheriff
IV. Documentation