Paid informants can be key to solving crimes in the city of Detroit, and for that matter, far beyond. Some of the informants are criminals.
Detroit Police officials have overhauled the department’s policy governing paid sources, George Hunter of The Detroit News reports.
The change comes after a federal indictment accused narcotics officers of working with informants to rob and extort drug dealers. The cops are accused of stealing money from dope dealers and giving the drugs to informants to sell.
Changes include a stricter policy on who officers can use as an informant, plus they have to get permission, Hunter reports. Additionally, cops can no longer cut plea deals with informants in exchange for information.
Now the officer has to submit a warrant request to prosecutors, and the prosecutors determine whether to do a plea deal.
“An informant can make or break a case, but you’ve got to always keep in mind you’re dealing with sleazy people who would snitch on their own family members if the price is right,” Henry Crump, a retired Detroit and Inkster police officer, tells The News. In the 1980s, he investigated a drug pipeline from the U.S. Virgin Islands — a case that was the basis for a “Miami Vice” episode.
“That’s why you have to be very careful, and verify every bit of information they give you, "Crump says.
