The Detective, the Snout, and the Audit Commission: The Real Costs in Using Informants

Abstract

In the context of the rise of proactive and intelligence led policing strategies this article examines claims as to the cost effectiveness of the police use of informers. In particular it questions the Audit Commission's limited view of effectiveness based solely on reward money paid out and seeks to account for the full costs of running informers. These, it is argued, should include all operational and organisational costs associated with recruitment and managing informers. Moreover, as the reality of using informers raises profound ethical problems there is a danger that an increase in their use could further undermine police legitimacy.

Where's the Intelligence in the National Intelligence Model?

“…Intelligence can be collected from a range of sources, but there are discussions around what constitutes valid sources of intelligence (Dunninghan and Norris, 1999). Traditional sources can be fingerprints or information from witnesses or informants (Butler 2004;Grieve, 2004).…”

“…The secondary data used has foremost been data collected by John and Maguire (2003;2004b) who have undertaken an evaluation of the implementation of NIM. Other secondary data used was the research on the use of informants in the UK police service by Dunninghan and Norris (1999) and research done by Tilley (2003a;2003b) comparing NIM with Problem-oriented Policing.…”

“…Grieve (see Chapter 4) states that it is the other way around; the public do not trust the police. The latter is according to Dunninghan and Norris (1999) exacerbated by the secrecy surrounding intelligence in general.…”

“…This is an area that is worthy of further research, especially in light of Dunninghan and Norris (1999, p. 76) findings that the cost of using informants were grossly underestimated. There is a real danger that the focus on informants at the cost of community intelligence can lead to 58/77 deterioration in the public confidence as discussed by Dunninghan and Norris (1999). If so it is timely to ask if the use of informants in fact is costing too much.…”

‘Blue walls,’ ‘grey areas’ and ‘cleanups’: Issues in the control of police corruption in England and Wales

“…The relationship of police officers with informants, particularly professional criminals is a particular area of risk (Dunnighan and Norris, 1999). Police officers continue to pay informants off the record, develop unorthodox relationships, and conceal the role of informants from the relevant authorities before and during prosecutions.…”