Policy Text
MOUNTAIN VIEW POLICE DEPARTMENT
OPERATIONAL SERVICES UNIT
TRAINING AND INFORMATION
BULLETIN
PAGE 1 OF 2
CONFIDENTIAL • FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT USE ONLY
2024
DATE : August 21, 2024
BULLETIN NUMBER: 24-06
SUBJECT: Citizen Informants
DEFINITION :
A Cit izen Informant is motivated out of concern for the community and is not
providing information for consideration on an outstanding criminal case or for
monetary gain. A Citizen Informant does not need to be a citizen of the United States
and officers should not make any inquiry into the person’s citizenship status. Citizen
Informants do not qualify as “Informants ” for General Order 608 purposes.
OBTAINING INFORMATION :
When an officer is approached by a person and the person wants to provide
information about a crime, the officer should take down as much information about
crime being reported as possible. The officer should ask if the person is willing to be a
witness for the crime they are alleging. If the person states they want to remain anonymous, officers can still rely on the person’s provided information and protect the person providing the information under Evidence Code 1040- 1042, et al.
The officer should inquire about the person’s motivation for providing the information. You do not need to interrogate the person about their motivation but making sure they
are motivated by concern for the community and not any other motivation is an
important aspect of being able to rely on the information they provide.
When gathering Citizen Informant provided information, be sure the Citizen Informant is not a percipient witness to the crime they are reporting to you. If they are a witness to
a completed crime, you may not be able to protect their identity and use them as an
anonymous source of information .
You should also ask if they want to be updated on the investigating as it progresses. If
they are interested, obtain contact information form them that will allow you or
someone else to contact them later. This contact information does not go in the police report.
MOUNTAIN VIEW POLICE DEPARTMENT
OPERATIONAL SERVICES UNIT
TRAINING AND INFORMATION
BULLETIN
PAGE 2 OF 2
CONFIDENTIAL • FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT USE ONLY
2024
If a Citizen Informant appro aches an officer to provide information about a crime either
completed or on -going, the officer should not dissuade the person from providing the
information. The person may provide information the officer does not believe is
immediately actionable . This is often the case when a person provides information
about on -going drug sales or active gang members . The officer should receive the
information and then pass it on the appropriate investigative unit if it is information
that would not be actionable in the officer’s current assignment.
USING INFORMATION:
All information from a Citizen Informant should be corroborated before any enforcement action is taken. It is not acceptable to use Citizen Informant information to
obtain search warrants without corroboration.
Using the leads provided by a Citizen Informant can often lead to productive criminal
investigations. Consult with your supervisor, prior to engaging in any investigation using Citizen Informant provided information.
ARREST IS MADE:
Being able to keep the Citizen Informant anonymous is important. By using the
information provided as a starting point and independently corroborate the
information, you should be able to protect the identity of the Citizen Informant and
keep their information out of your police report. Any time Citizen Informant
information leads to an arrest, you should make your supervisor aware of the situation
prior to them approving the report.
CONCLUSION:
When people place their faith in us by providing information about criminal activity , it
is important that we professionally handle the information to protect the public trust.
When Citizen Informants come forward, they expect law enforcement to take the
information provided, and to work the case to the best of our abilities. By not taking investigative steps on provided information, we are breaking the public trust and are
not completing our mission. When you receive information about a completed crime or
on-going criminal activity , if you cannot investigate the crime in your current
assignment make sure the information is passed on to the proper investigative unit.
Prepared by: Lt. St.Clair
Approved by: Capt. Nelson