Gathering intelligence on the recruitment and use of informers

The problem with doing research on informers is that much of the information is kept secret

Louise Tickle

Stories about the controversial use of informers have hit the headlines recently, with the planting of police officers in environmental groups causing serious embarrassment when it was found they’d had relationships and fathered children with activists. Reports of MI5 repeatedly approaching people assumed to be Muslims at UK airports with inducements to inform on their friends and neighbours have also been disastrous for community relations.

The dislike – hatred even – people feel for telltales reflects the trauma that is felt when trust is broken, says Dr Steve Hewitt, senior lecturer in the department of American and Canadian studies at the University of Birmingham, and author of Snitch! A History of the Modern Intelligence Informer. When it’s a matter of deeply felt belief, the trauma is magnified. “It involves betrayal, and it’s a very powerful emotion, whereas technology used for surveillance is impersonal,” he says. (more on guardian.co.uk)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/mar/12/intelligence-recruitment-use-informers-secret