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
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8zz02/police-informers-and-professional-ethics

Log in to edit

Download files

Author's accepted manuscript
AM_Harfield_2012_Police_informers_and_professional_ethics.pdf
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
File access level: Open

Restricted files

Publisher's version

  • 41
    total views
  • 86
    total downloads
  • 3
    views this month
  • 27
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

Risk and Resilience : Mitigating Corruption Vulnerability When Managing Informers
Harfield, Clive Geoffrey. (2024). Risk and Resilience : Mitigating Corruption Vulnerability When Managing Informers. Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies. 2(2), pp. 199-217. https://doi.org/10.47509/JCCJS.2024.v02i02.05
Covert investigation
Harfield, Clive and Harfield, Karen. (2023). Covert investigation Oxford University Press.
Criminal law for common law states
Harfield, Clive, Hamilton, Mark and Teshome, Aderajew. (2023). Criminal law for common law states LexisNexis.
Deterring drivers : An initiative to reduce car theft and joyriding by young people in Townsville
Dodd, Shannon, Morgan, Morgan, Dillon, Anthony, Lawton, Luke and Harfield, Clive. (2023). Deterring drivers : An initiative to reduce car theft and joyriding by young people in Townsville Brisbane, Australia: Australian Catholic University. https://doi.org/10.26199/acu.8z9v6
Constructing a village memory : significance and story in the Buriton Roll of Honour
Harfield, Clive. (2022). Constructing a village memory : significance and story in the Buriton Roll of Honour. Hampshire Studies (2022). 77, pp. 194-216. https://doi.org/10.24202/hs2022011
Amplifying victim vulnerability : Unanticipated harm and consequence in data breach notification policy
Gibson, Dennis and Harfield, Clive. (2022). Amplifying victim vulnerability : Unanticipated harm and consequence in data breach notification policy. International Review of Victimology. 29(3), pp. 341-365. https://doi.org/10.1177/02697580221107683
Was Snowden virtuous?
Harfield, Clive. (2021). Was Snowden virtuous? Ethics and Information Technology. 23(3), pp. 373-383. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-021-09580-4
Contradictions and inconsistencies in Australia's mandatory data breach notification laws
Gibson, Dennis and Harfield, Clive. (2021). Contradictions and inconsistencies in Australia's mandatory data breach notification laws. Computer Law and Security Review. 42, p. Article 105600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2021.105600
(Im)material culture : Towards an archaeology of cybercrime
Harfield, Clive Geoffrey and Schofield, John. (2020). (Im)material culture : Towards an archaeology of cybercrime. World Archaeology. 52(4), pp. 607-618. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2021.1882333
Covert investigation
Harfield, Clive and Harfield, Karen. (2018). Covert investigation Oxford University Press.
Undercover policing-a legal-comparative perspective
Harfield, Clive. (2018). Undercover policing-a legal-comparative perspective. In In den Boer, Monica (Ed.). Comparative policing from a legal perspective pp. 153-168 Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785369117.00015
Covert investigation
Harfield, Clive and Harfield, Karen. (2016). Covert investigation Oxford University Press.
Body-worn POV technology : Moral harm
Harfield, Clive Geoffrey. (2014). Body-worn POV technology : Moral harm. IEEE Technology and Society Magazine. 33(2), pp. 64-72. https://doi.org/10.1109/MTS.2014.2319976
Law, morality and the authorisation of covert police surveillance
Harfield, Clive. (2014). Law, morality and the authorisation of covert police surveillance. Australian Journal of Human Rights. 20(2), pp. 133-164. https://doi.org/10.1080/1323-238X.2014.11882153