Do confidential informants ever get paid?

[flasurfrider]

I was riding public transportation the other day which often makes for some interesting conversations. There was a women who claimed when she was underage her mom and an undercover cop would have her go into stores and buy cigarettes and she would get $40 every time a store sold her a pack.

This is not the first time I have heard of something like this.

Does anyone know if it is some departments or agencies policy to pay CIs when they set up a bust?

 

[januz101]

Intelligence agency really do have a budget for this. Its how the intelligence community sustain its web. Informants are paid to do tasks and intel gathering under the supervision of a police or an agent. The more risky the job is the more high the pay is. But sensitive intelligence work are not offered to civilians. Leave it to the experts.

 

[Sarz]

I don't think that informants would have much reason to want to snitch if there was nothing in it for them. There has to be some sort of incentive cash or otherwise. To make them do it in the first place most of them are probably not just doing out of the kindness of their hearts. I wonder how you come to be one?

 

[mimsee]

It's really dangerous to be an informant these days where people put a lot of hate towards "rats" and "snitches." There have been many cases where confidential informants have been found out and murdered on the spot. I don't think anybody would put their life on the line like that unless substantial gain was to be had.

 

[princenyc]

If you want to be a cop join the police department. Being a rat/snitch/CI is dangerous. But if you are going to do it do it for the feds. The pay is better and so are the benefits!

 

[Teens In Crisis]

I'm not sure that getting underage cig sales is the same as "snitching", not that I believe in snitching to begin with. Doing the right thing should NEVER be frowned upon. However, I can say that this story is 100% true because I know at least two people that make a pretty good living doing this for "state stores" and places that sell cigs in Philly.

 

[Patrick]

I would be surprised for snitches to be paid using taxpayer's money, it raises some serious ethical questions. However I can understand if they are given a wider leash, or given reduced sentences/punishments for their crimes in exchange for information that can lead to high-profile arrests.

 

[DancingLady]

Yes I believe they do get paid. If they are setting up a bust, they would probably need to hire someone to do it. Not too many people would volunteer their time to do something like that, but if paid for their time, many people would be willing.

 

[askanison]

It depends on the situation. The whole cigarette thing is ran by another agency I think though. I have worked in stores where they had people who were hired to come in and buy cigarettes and were underage. The fines are very large and can be weighed upon the cashier themselves as well as the store. This is why most places card you now no matter how old you look. It's better to be safe than sorry with those fines. CI's do get paid for some information at times considering how big of an arrest is made.

 

[flasurfrider]

I suppose cigarettes fall under the ATF's jurisdiction. I also reckon that someone setting up an illegal arms deal deserves some serious hazard pay.

With the drug war, I am interested in how that goes with the CI web. Obviously reduced sentencing or no charges is a major incentive however I would imagine the big busts would also warrant hazard pay too.

 

[camsdad]

In the OP story I was wondering what made the cop send the little girl into the store to ask for smokes? I get that it is wrong to sell cigs to under aged people, but it sounds like entrapment. was there a bigger complaint that the officer was trying to bait out?

I know some people who have been taken care of by people who cannot be named for their services. It all seems like a t.v show to me, but I guess now I know where the idea came from in popular media.