2nd Edition

Informants, Cooperating Witnesses, and Undercover Investigations A Practical Guide to Law, Policy, and Procedure, Second Edition

By Dennis G. Fitzgerald Copyright 2015
556 Pages
by CRC Press

556 Pages 56 B/W Illustrations
by CRC Press

556 Pages
by CRC Press

The use of informants has been described as the "black hole of law enforcement." Failures in the training of police officers and federal agents in the recruitment and operation of informants has undermined costly long-term investigations, destroyed the careers of prosecutors and law enforcement officers, and caused death and serious injuries to innocent citizens and police. In many cases, the... Read more

Historical Background. Informants, Cooperating Witnesses, and Sources. Defined. Motivations for Cooperation. Recruiting Informants. Plea-Bargaining, Substantial Assistance, and. Downward Sentencing Departures. Documentation, Registration, and the. Confidential Source File. Sources of Compensation for Informants. Whistleblowers: The Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. Corroboration of Informant Information. Informants and Search Warrants. Controlled Purchases of Evidence by Informants. Undercover Investigations: Reversals and Sting Operations. Controlling Informants and Institutional Ethics. Witness Security Program: Falling off the Face of the Earth. Index.

Biography

Attorney Dennis G. Fitzgerald is a retired U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agent, and a former City of Miami, Florida, Police vice and narcotics sergeant and police training instructor. During his law enforcement career, he recruited and operated criminal informants and cooperating witnesses. He also supervised investigators under his command in their operation of informants. He is currently a trial consultant specializing in criminal cases that have relied on informants and cooperating witnesses and is also an international criminal law advisor.