Police informants

This chapter considers the circumstances in which a state can use private informants in criminal investigations. Informants raise concerns of abuse and lack of accountability similar to those posed by PMSCs, it is argued that the unique nature of informants as criminal insiders (that is, members of a criminal enterprise) makes delegation to them of investigative functions particularly troubling. Criminal insiders recruited as informants often remain in place in their targeted organizations and continue to participate in crimes in order to provide investigators with information about the organization's activities. In doing so, informants may purchase and sell contraband undercover, or participate in other offences with their criminal associates.