July 27/2022 Exploding myths on informants and confidential informants
There is a problem with understanding, and more so perception, of what informants and confidential informants (CI’s) are in the modern world of policing and criminality. One thing is for certain, they are not the glamorized portrayal that has been cultivated by the Hollywood stylized representation of them in crime movies and series. The misunderstanding is largely based on the perception that has been romanticized and propagated by the Mainstream Media (MSM) and a general misunderstanding of where they fit and what function they perform in the real world. They are an increasingly disposable resource with a time or task limited value frankly.
This misrepresentation of informants and CI’s has created a significant risk in a rapidly changing criminal justice environment. Several decades ago, the informant or CI was a valuable and useful asset in fighting crime and criminal syndicates, they were valued and more importantly, protected. That is no longer the case. The shift in the criminal justice system and the judicial stance of informants and CI’s to accountability, transparency and openness has lessened their value and exponentially increased risks for said individuals.
This is not like whistleblowing, there are a hundred reasons a person would wish to become an informant or a CI, and it is not always about money or revenge or leveling playing fields! On the contrary, there are some very sinister and twisted motivations that are unsuitable to explain in the context of this discussion.
The more experienced field officers and agents in the field will quickly identify the key ‘motivation’ for such an individual wishing to become an informant, the value they bring will be assessed in line with the potential risks of recruitment and potential exposure. However, these days the informant and CI face that added risk of there limited shelf life with the demands by judiciary for evidentiary participation in cases by informants. For the informant, therein lies your greatest risk, your shelf life has essentially been shortened, and quite possibly your actual life at that.
And don’t think for a moment that the ‘motivation’ expressed to pursue such a discipline is the only factor in the process, nope! That’s the bait to hook one. Once hooked and the first step is taken there is seldom any turning back. Police informants, security service assets, intelligence service assets, it does not matter, an asset is an asset, and assets depreciate and are disposable. Admittedly there are varying degrees of asset management and disposal in different situations. The would-be informant should be under no illusion that they possess an intrinsic time and situational limited value that is only measured against the objective related to the uniqueness of that value to that situation and time. Once the time, and or value of that situation is exhausted they should be prepared for the realities of the depreciation of their value.
In layman’s terms, the life choice of ‘informing’ is not conducive to longevity of life plan.
Disclaimer: All parties mentioned in this blog are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The opinions expressed are solely my own. This blog is created in the public interest with the sole aim of seeking justice for Lindsay and bringing the conspirators and her killer(s) to account.
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