Police spent at least £13.6 million on informants in five years
New statistics have revealed police forces around the UK have spent at least £13.6 million on informants over the last five years.
Some critics have labelled this as “ineffective use of money” while others said, “it depends on the case” and called it a “cost-effective form of policing”.
In the last year, UK Police spent more than £2.8 million on criminal intelligence.
The Metropolitan Police, the country’s largest force, were the biggest spenders paying out a total of £4 million over the last five years.
Informants are used by the police to find out information on criminal activity such as murder, burglaries and drug rings.
They are usually people who have been arrested and offered money or a reduction in their sentence for information supplied.
According to Neil Wood, a former undercover policeman, around, “90% of informants are used in drug-related offences”.
Neil, who is now CEO of Law Enforcement Action Partnership, rallying for drug reform policy, said: “Using police informants for other crimes such as burglaries and theft is the most cost-effective form of policing you can do.”
Top UK spenders 2014–19
- Metropolitan Police — £4,363,226
- Police Scotland — £1,342,915
- West Midlands Police — £925,801
- Thames Valley Police — £749,850
- Northumbria Police — £659,823
However, he also points out that what informants are mostly used for does not reduce the crime in the area.
“If you arrest a drug dealer on the information of an informant, you remove a drug dealer.
“All it does is create an opportunity for another drug dealer; crime doesn’t reduce,” Neil added.
Informants can be paid anything between £20 and £15,000 for sharing information leading to successful arrests.
The figure is calculated on the worth of the information against how successful a raid will be.
There are usually additional hidden costs when it comes to using informants as Neil said: “it takes a huge amount of money”.
“You’ve got six or seven police officers to raid it, collect the evidence, back it all up, build a file, it’s a huge cost on top,” he added.
A senior officer in the Met Police, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “If the information from an informant leads to the recovery of firearms or incarceration of serious criminals this can only be a positive thing.
“Even if the informant receives financial benefits,” he added.
The Met spent a whopping £970,000 on informants in 2018/19, £100,000 more than the previous year.
Police Scotland was the second-highest, paying out just under £1.5 million to informants between 2014 and 2019 while West Midlands Police were just short of £1 million.
North Wales Police spent the lowest amount over the last five years spending just under £55,000 for criminal intelligence.
City of London was the second-lowest, spending £55,525 for information during the period.
Out of 45 forces in the UK, only 27 responded to an FOI request with figures showing an increase of £82,000 in expenditure on informants since 2014.
Essex Police and Hampshire Constabulary did not disclose their figures.
The UK spent £2.9 million on informants in 2014/15, making it the largest payout year of the period.
The data showed a dip in payouts between 2015/16 and 2017/18, reaching as low as £2.5 million before increasing in 2018/19.
A spokesperson from Taxpayers’ Alliance said: “It is critical that there is transparency in how taxpayers’ money is spent, even in the murky world of crime-fighting.
“All bodies, including the police, ought to be aware of the public interest in knowing where their cash is being spent, especially given that taxpayers are being asked to pay record amounts this year.”
Candace Moss, a pharmacist from Hartley Wintney, said: “Morally, I don’t think we should be paying anyone to give us information.
“If you witness a car crash and give a witness statement, you don’t expect to receive money for it,” she added.
