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NPR focuses on pitfalls of informant use

I've been critical of law enforcement relying too heavily on confidential informants when they contribute to police corruption and falsely accuse innocent people, but an NPR story today shows snitches can also cause loads of trouble when they make false allegations against their police handlers.National Public Radio is running a three part series on the use of snitches by law enforcement, particularly in the FBI. The first installment focused on the Whitey Bulger case out of Boston that's been a frequent topic of discussion on this blog.Today's story focuses on informants who falsely accused their handlers of crimes, honing in on the story of a New York FBI agent, Lin DeVecchio, who racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills fighting false claims by a much relied-upon mob informant:Jim Kossler was the coordinating supervisor for organized crime for the FBI in New York ? DeVecchio's boss...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on September 02, 2008 (boomark / email).