Juvenile Police Informants

Abstract

The use of juvenile informants by police is rarely discussed among law enforcement, and published research is virtusally nonexistent. In most cases, ethical issues, legal circumstances, and traditional police secrecy keep any teenager involvement in covert law enforcement operations hidden. This article seeks to shed some light on the use of minors in police investigations through a presentation of known cases and semistructured interviews with law enforcement agents. The qualitative interviews reveal fundamental concerns regarding the precarious nature of the role of juveniles in the investigation process, despite the limitations of the sample size and generalizability of the data. The primary issues addressed in the research include coercion in the recruitment process and the potential for physical and emotional harm of the young informants.