Full Description
The police rely heavily on paid and unpaid informers: without them clear-up rates would plummet, and many crimes would remain undetected. Yet little is known about the informer system and how it works, for example: who are these informers? how are they recruited? how are they handled? who handles them? what sort of information do they provide?
Recent high profile cases have drawn attention to the use of informers, there has been a growing debate about the subject, and many feel that stricter controls are needed - but how is this to be achieved without undermining the effectiveness of the system? This is the first book of its kind on informers in Britain, providing an invaluable source of information and analysis from key authorities in the field.
Contents
Foreword. Preface 1. Introduction 2. Drugs, Crime and Informers 3. Law Enforcement Ethics: is principled informant handling possible? 4. Informers, Agents and Accountability: the use of human information sources by the Police and the Security Service 5. Informer careers: motivation and change 6. Gender issues of Informer Handling 7. Juvenile informers 8. Where the Grass is Greener? Supergrasses in comparative perspective 9. Managing Anonymous Informants through Crimestoppers 10. Witness Protection Schemes 11. Regulating informers: RIP A, covert policing and human rights
