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Is it ethical for the police to run want ads for informants?
By Lauren | November 24, 2008
The Washington Post Express reported this morning on the Albuquerque Police Department’s decision to use the want ads to recruit informants. According to the Post Express, the police department’s ad solicits “people who hang out with crooks,” inviting them to “Make extra cash!” by reporting criminal behavior, earning anywhere from $50 for a tip that helps police arrest drug dealers to as much as $700 for tips about murder suspects. The Post Express article quotes Captain Joe Hudson as saying that the department received more than thirty responses to the ad in two days.
It’s not unheard of for police to pay off tipsters, and the Albuquerque police undoubtedly plan to independently investigate the credibility of the tips they receive. (There are people who’d inform on their best friends for $50, even if they had nothing criminal to report.) Still, there was one aspect of the ad that left me queasy. According to the Post Express, the ad reads in part, “Drug use and criminal record OK.” Can anyone doubt that an addict who gets paid for information will probably use the money to buy drugs? Can it possibly be ethical for the police to pay informants when they know that at least some of the money will likely be used to support criminal activity?
Law enforcement officials have told us for decades that illicit drug trade is not only a social scourge in itself, but frequently contributes to violent crimes like rape and murder. If the rest of us are supposed to take illegal drug use seriously - and we should - how can a police department condone it? And how will the Albuquerque Police Department excuse itself if one of its paid informants uses taxpayer money to buy drugs, then goes on a violent spree?
Where, you ask, is the nexus between this story and business ethics? The police are, among other things, the standard of integrity in our communities, and police departments investigate business crimes like fraud and embezzlement as well as theft and murder. If a police department appears to be cutting ethical corners in one area, businesses may conclude that the department will take it easy on other ethical lapses. The Albuquerque Police Department’s ad may yield useful information, but it sends the wrong message to businesses in its community. There has to be a better way.
Topics: Business Ethics, Legal Ethics, Social Ethics, ethics |
December 4th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
[...] presents Is it ethical for the police to run want ads for informants? posted at The Business Ethics Blog, saying, “Paying known criminals for tip-offs can possibly [...]