Are Confidential Informants Compromising Crime Fighting in Central MA?
Thursday, June 12, 2014
While able to offer police an inside scoop into the crime world by giving them a person on the inside, the lack of regulation and monitoring of criminal informants often leads to a wide array of issues, most notably faulty convictions.
“One of the major problems with confidential informants is that the information that they give up could be completely fabricated,” said Bill McCarthy, a criminal justice professor at Quinsigamond Community College. “These informants are believed to be of help to the criminal justice system but you really have to consider how reliable they are.”
Last September, the city of Lowell and local police officer Thomas Lafferty were sued for long-term misuse of criminal informants, who were allegedly planting drugs on innocent people. A total of 17 drug and firearm cases in Lowell were dropped after a police-informant probe was issued.
Faulty Motivation
According to Gregory Casale, a criminal defense attorney in Worcester, Central Massachusetts is full of confidential informants from the largest cities all the way to the smallest towns. While able to help police in drug busts and other crimes, these informants are often misguided in their motives; they are looking to find any information possible that could lead to a conviction.
Confidential informants are often given some form of deal by the police; if they aid in catching a criminal, then the informant may see a reduced or eliminated sentence. Because of this, they oftentimes will report misinformation just to see an arrest, all in an attempt to get a reduced sentence on their own crime.
Solving Crime
While the integrity of criminal informants has been continually questioned, many within the law enforcement field in Central Massachusetts view these informants as a great way to help catch criminals.
Having a person on the inside, especially in a situation like a drug bust, is helpful because the criminal informant would already have knowledge of the situation, making an arrest easier.
While not monitored in any sort of public database, all confidential informants are vetted prior to being implemented into a crime situation, to ensure that they are the right person to help gain a conviction.
“Confidential informants are used by law enforcement on a case by case basis to help solve crimes,” said Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. “The use of confidential informants takes into consideration the information to be obtained, the crime to be solved and the criminal record of the informant.”
More Monitoring
Whitey Bulger
Through better monitoring and tracking of these informants, McCarthy believes that many problems will be alleviated. Currently, it is impossible to know how many informants are in the system or what their precise roles are in combating crime.
McCarthy is also concerned that confidential informants are free in a sense to commit crimes while they are helping out the police. He points to the Whitey Bulger case - where Bulger was enlisted as a confidential informant and was committing crimes while also helping the FBI – as one of the most famous examples.
“We need to start better looking into the role of confidential informants because they undermine accountability in the criminal justice system,” said McCarthy. “Rather than a criminal being charged with a crime, a confidential informant is able to bargain with prosecutors to give up information or someone else for a different crime. While this process is taking place, the informant is free to commit the crimes that got them in trouble in the first place.”
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