A confidential informant (CI) is an individual who secretly provides information to law enforcement about criminal activity. They are not police officers, but rather citizens who work with the authorities, often in exchange for benefits such as leniency in their own criminal cases, financial compensation, or protection.
Your best chance of success is not to ask for the entire list, but rather for records related to a policy, procedure, or individual. Your request should be as targeted and descriptive as possible. For example, you could request "the current policies and procedures manual governing the recruitment and handling of confidential informants" or "any documents related to the training provided to officers on the use of informants." These types of requests have been successfully used in the past to obtain information about how the system operates.
Under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, a criminal defendant has the right to confront their accuser. If a prosecutor relies heavily on an informant's firsthand testimony or actions to prove a crime took place, the defense team can demand that the informant's identity be disclosed through pre-trial discovery. 2. Roviaro v. United States (The Balancing Test) confidential informant list for my city exclusive
The quest for a "confidential informant list for my city" is a pursuit of a largely mythical document. While informant activity is a real part of law enforcement, it is managed with extreme secrecy to ensure safety and legal compliance. Attempting to track down or publish such a list is not only dangerous but likely futile.
While you cannot obtain an actual list of informants, you may be able to access your local police department's policies and procedures regarding confidential informant use. The Boston Police Department, after a public records request, released its procedures regarding the handling and recruiting of confidential informants. This is a common outcome of public records requests—agencies release policy documents while redacting specific informant information. A confidential informant (CI) is an individual who
Confidential informants may provide a range of information, including:
The legal framework governing confidential informants is designed to keep their identities private from third parties: Your request should be as targeted and descriptive
: The identity of an informant is generally not available through standard public record requests like FOIA. Disclosing such lists would put lives at risk and discourage future cooperation with police. "Exclusives" and Leaks
: Agencies maintain secure databases containing a CI’s true name, aliases, photograph, fingerprints, and criminal history.
Falsely naming someone as an informant on a public platform opens you up to massive defamation lawsuits. How Informant Identities Actually Surface Legally