Policy Text
Policy
603Garden Grove Police Department
Policy Manual
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2022/05/18, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by Garden Grove Police
DepartmentInformants - 1Informants
603.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE
The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines for the use of informants.
603.1.1 DEFINITIONS
Definitions related to this policy include:
Informant - A person who covertly interacts with other individuals or suspects at the direction
of, request of, or by agreement with, the Garden Grove Police Department for law enforcement
purposes. This also includes a person agreeing to supply information to the Garden Grove Police
Department for a benefit (e.g., a quid pro quo in the form of a reduced criminal penalty, money).
Perkins Operation - is an undercover investigation of an in-custody suspect’s participation in
a specific crime, by means of insertion of an officer/deputy, civilian or jailhouse informant into a
custodial setting with the suspect for the purpose of eliciting incriminating statements. A Perkins
Operation is conducted before the suspect has invoked his or her Miranda rights and before
charges have been filed against the suspect for the specific crime under investigation [Illinois v.
Perkins (1990) 496 U.S. 292].
603.2 POLICY
The Garden Grove Police Department recognizes the value of informants to law enforcement
efforts and will strive to protect the integrity of the informant process. It is the policy of
this department that all funds related to informant payments will be routinely audited and that
payments to informants will be made according to the criteria outlined in this policy.
603.3 USE OF INFORMANTS
603.3.1 INITIAL APPROVAL
Before using an individual as an informant, an officer must receive approval from the Special
Investigations Unit (SIU) supervisor. The officer shall compile sufficient information through a
background investigation and experience with the informant in order to determine the suitability
of the individual, including age, maturity and risk of physical harm, as well as any indicators of
his/her reliability and credibility.
Members of this department should not guarantee absolute safety or confidentiality to an
informant.
The following requirements shall apply to the department's development of defendant informants:
(a)Notification to the appropriate prosecutor (that is, Federal, State or local) should be
made prior to seeking the cooperation of a defendant.
(b)A defendant may be advised that his/her cooperation will be brought to the attention
of the appropriate prosecutor. No further representations of assurances may be given
Garden Grove Police Department
Policy Manual
Informants
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2022/05/18, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by Garden Grove Police
DepartmentInformants - 2without approval. The prosecuting attorney shall have the sole authority to decide
whether or not to prosecute a case against a defendant/informant.
(c)The appropriate prosecutor shall be advised of the nature and scope of the defendant's
cooperation throughout the period of his/her use. The procedures and frequency of
this reporting shall be set by the prosecutor.
An informant envelope will be completed and filed in the Special Investigations Unit informant file
(refer Procedural Content on "Informant Cards") on all informants used by departmental personnel.
Whenever an informant provides assistance to the police department and goes beyond merely
providing information and evolves into actual participation into the investigation, (i.e., making
introductions between officer and suspect, making controlled buys of narcotics, etc.), the informant
must sign the "Confidential Questionnaire."
This form will be attached placed in the informant envelope and filed in the appropriate SIU files.
The use of a jailhouse informant must be approved by the Orange County District Attorney
before the informant is utilized. Any civilian used in a Perkins Operation is considered a jailhouse
informant under OCDA policy.
Undercover law enforcement officers used in a Perkins Operation does not require prior approval
from the OCDA's office. The only requirement is that GGPD inform the assigned prosecutor at
the time charges are filed.
603.3.2 JUVENILE INFORMANTS
The use of informants under the age of 18 is prohibited.
603.3.3 INFORMANT AGREEMENTS
There are three criteria that must be met to establish a person as a Garden Grove Informant.
(a)The person must be in a position to measurably assist the department in a present
or future investigation.
(b)To the extent a prudent judgment can be made, the person will not compromise the
department's interests and activities.
(c)The person will accept the measure of discretion necessary to effectively utilize his/
her services.
All informants are required to sign and abide by the provisions of the designated department
informant agreement. The officer using the informant shall discuss each of the provisions of
the agreement with the informant. The informant will initial each section of the agreement
acknowledging that he/she understands the listed provisions. This shall be done in the presence
of the handling investigator.
Details of the agreement are to be approved in writing by a supervisor before being finalized with
the informant.
Garden Grove Police Department
Policy Manual
Informants
Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2022/05/18, All Rights Reserved.
Published with permission by Garden Grove Police
DepartmentInformants - 3603.4 INFORMANT INTEGRITY
An informant (or source of information) shall be advised at the outset that:
(a)He/she shall not violate criminal law in furtherance of gathering of information of
providing services to the police department and that any evidence of such a violation
will be reported to the appropriate law enforcement agency