Confidential Informants: Who They Are. How They Are Used.

What is a Confidential Informant?

Confidential Informants are persons used by the police in order to secure evidence against another person. Informants are often used in drug cases and white collar crimes and were often once under investigation themselves. In order for their charge to be lessened or dismissed, the informant will work alongside law enforcement.

How Confidential Informants are used

Once someone has agreed to be an informant, the police select a target. This target can be someone the informant knows, or someone the police are targeting. The informant usually has a recording device placed on them. There is almost always a police officer nearby with video surveillance. If the police do not maintain constant surveillance of the informant, their case can become compromised.

Police have been known to wait days, weeks, or months before actually taking the subject down. The reason the police wait is to protect the identity of the informant.

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