Snitching

Criminal Informant Law, Policy, and Research

Alexandra Natapoff

San Francisco police use violent career criminal as informant

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The San Francisco Weekly and the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute just released this indepth story about the SFPD’s use of a high-level gang leader as an informant over several years: Cover of Darkness: S.F. Police turned a blind eye to some of the city’s most dangerous criminals–who were also some of their most trusted soures. The story documents the clash between the S.F. police who protected their violent source in violation of their own policies, and the federal agents who ultimately arrested him. The debacle elicited scathing criticism from former law enforcement. From the story:

Thirty-year law enforcement veteran Chuck Drago and former police commissioner Peter Keane both believe that the existence of rogue informants for SFPD’s specialized Gang Task Force and Narcotics Bureau indicates serious flaws in the department’s internal checks and balances. (The SFPD’s Narcotics Bureau, Gang Task Force, and Media Relations Office wouldn’t comment on the department’s handling of violent informants for this story.) “Somebody is dropping the ball in management,” says Drago. “SFPD have let loose an unguided missile on the public” by allowing dangerous men like Sandoval (and, as we’ll see, at least one other) to stay at large in spite of their offenses, says Keane. “No modern police force with any professionalism engages in that sort of practice anymore.”

BBC World Service radio program on snitching in the U.S.

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Here’s an excellent new radio program on snitching by the British BBC, Snitching in the U.S.A. It includes stories of individual informants, interviews with law enforcement, attorneys, and families. A written magazine version is here. The report centers around the story of John Horner, a first-time offender currently serving a 25-year drug sentence in Florida. Mr. Horner became dependent on pain killers due to an eye injury, and was set up by an experienced informant. Horner tried to work the sentence off as an informant himself, but couldn’t make enough arrests. He talks in detail about his experiences as an informant and how the system treated him.

The Movie “Snitch”

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Next week, a new movie entitled “Snitch” opens in theaters. It’s based on a true story described in a 1999 Frontline documentary of the same name, in which a father becomes an informant to work off his son’s mandatory drug sentence. Here’s a link to the trailer.

Participant Media has created a great public information site to accompany the movie, with stats and stories about the drug war, mandatory minimums, and informants. Check it out: www.TakePart.com/SNITCH. They’ve also made a hilarious mini-video about the crazy world of the war on drugs. Watch it here: SNITCH: Lock it Down America!

Death of a young Washington informant inspires new legislation

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Jeremy McLean was a young informant who was threatened and eventually killed by a heroin trafficker. Jeremy’s story–and his parents’ lawsuit against the police– was featured in the widely-read 2012 New Yorker article on the risky use of young informants. The Daily News subsequently ran this in-depth four-part series detailing the specifics of how Jeremy came to be an informant after he developed an addiction to pain medication, the threats against his life, and the police’s inaction that contributed to his death: Death of an Informant, Part I.

In January, Washington State Senator Adam Kline introduced legislation, SB 5373, that would regulate the use of drug informants like Jeremy. The bill would ban the use of informants who are 16 years old and under, require police to tell informants about their obligations and potential rewards in writing, and establish new accountability mechanisms for keeping track of informant use. It’s an important bill, particularly the restriction on using juvenile informants which few states currently have.

Jailhouse snitches pay $1000s for information

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USA Today ran this indepth story about a pay-for-information scheme in the Atlanta jail, in which federal inmates looking for cooperation credit bought information to pass on to their handlers, passing it off as their own knowledge. Story here: Federal prisoners use snitching for personal gain. The story offers an unusually detailed and extensive look at the ways that inmates and informants can game the system, buying and selling information that prosecutors and investigators then reward them for and rely on. In this black market free-for-all, inmates paid tens of thousands of dollars ($250,000 in one case) for information to lower their sentences, while FBI agents relied on snitches who were passing on second-hand uncorroborated information from the street. It is the fourth such scheme uncovered in Atlanta alone in the last 20 years.

A similar pay-for-information scheme was discovered in a federal prison in Louisiana, after Ann Colomb and her three sons were wrongfully convicted based on the testimony of dozens of snitch inmates. See this post: Professional Prison Snitch Ring.