Police informers and professional ethics

Journal article

Harfield, Clive. (2012). Police informers and professional ethics. Criminal Justice Ethics. 31(2), pp. 73-95. https://doi.org/10.1080/0731129X.2012.696960
AuthorsHarfield, Clive
Abstract

The use of informers is morally problematic for police institutions, for investigation managers, and for those individuals either who act as informers or who have daily responsibility for handling informers. This paper examines the moral issues concerning informers at each of these levels. Recourse to informers can be accommodated within Miller and Blackler's moral theory of policing. Within this context, criteria for the morally justifiable deployment of informers are proposed and supplemented with further proposed criteria for morally justifiable informer participation in crime. Morally justifiable recruitment of informers is also considered. Despite directly serving the purpose of policing, informers do not incur police professional obligations.

Keywordsinformers; informer recruitment; entrapment; deception; undercover policing; covert investigation; moral theory of policing
Year2012
JournalCriminal Justice Ethics
Journal citation31 (2), pp. 73-95
PublisherRoutledge
ISSN0731-129X
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/0731129X.2012.696960
Scopus EID2-s2.0-84865519015
Open accessPublished as green open access
Page range73-95
Author's accepted manuscript
License
File Access Level
Open
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online19 Jun 2012
Publication process dates
Deposited14 Nov 2023
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