Cops rely on informants -- snitches -- for information needed to fight crime.
No mystery here, it's as old as history.
Sometimes it's just a matter of giving police the bits and pieces needed to put a puzzle together in solving a particular crime or going after groups like chop shop networks or bra-and-panties rings (which have been in the news lately) -- or gangs.
Sometimes it's needed to clinch a prosecution, because in American courts, with their roots in English common law, proof must be 'beyond a reasonable doubt'.
When snitches figure in a prosecution, the authorities must disclose information about the snitch and the snitch's import to the case in court filings. Those filings become available to the defense, which means that they can become available to the DEFENDANTS, who can then intimidate -- or worse, eliminate -- the snitch.
This is illustrated by a story in this morning's Ledger ("Two accused of attacking informant in Crips case") concerning the Grape Street Gang in Newark.
There are actually both federal and state cases involved, and there are different standards by which decisions about the safety of witnesses are made.
But the bottom line appears to be that using snitches to fight crime in New Jersey is seriously compromised by the lack of clear guidelines both protecting snitches.
And at the same not defeating the requirements of the defense's right of discovery.
Essex County prosecutor Paula Dow is on the case. Bet we can expect a proposal to give witnesses more protection.
But we can also expect criminal defense attorneys to object.
And there's your conundrum.**
** "A Conundrum is a puzzling question. In one variety of conundrum, the question is posed as a riddle and the answer is or involves a pun. More broadly, a conundrum is any problem where the answer is very complex, possibly unsolvable without deep investigation. A mystery or paradox can often be phrased as a conundrum."
Further reading --
- "Stop Snitchin'" -- Urban campaign
- "Delator" -- Ancient Roman informants
- "Omertà " -- The Mafia code of honor
-- Dan Damon
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1 comments:
Your story is a bit daunting in the fact that ordinary citizens whose communities are constantly under attack may think twice before informing the police about what they have observed or know. Signs such as the one you posted are detrimental to the need for all citizens to report crime and criminal activity. These signs play into the hands of criminals who want citizens to be fearful of helping authorities to eliminate the criminal behavior that devastates our neighborhoods. Even thought you might have been writing about police informants, this article does little to inspire ordinary people to come forward.
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