Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS)

OPINION: A recent judgment by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal found that the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Metropolitan Police had unlawfully conducted surveillance into two investigative journalists; former Detective Chief Inspector Steve Christopher, a Senior Lecturer in Criminal Justice at Leicester’s De Montfort University, fears this latest example of “egregious conduct” around covert policing could be “merely the tip of the iceberg”.

ANALYSIS: Research by criminal intelligence specialist Helen Glazebrook as part of a Churchill Fellowship award examines the collaboration between police and correctional facilities in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US and the UK, highlighting the need for closer co-operation between agencies particularly in relation to monitoring the actions of those involved in serious organised crime, as she explained to Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons.

FEATURE: A new report by the Garda Síochána Inspectorate has called for the force to carry out a strategic threat and risk assessment to identify and tackle transnational organised crime; a workforce plan to better allocate resources, prioritising data-informed processes, and adopting an “all-island” approach to organised crime were also among more than 60 recommendations, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

ANALYSIS: With a renewed government focus on neighbourhood and community policing in the UK, Steve Dodd, a former South Wales Police detective and College of Policing subject matter expert on intelligence professionalisation, sets out the potential of community intelligence-led policing methodology in improving intelligence gathering and rebuilding public trust and confidence, in the first of a two-part series.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Dr Chris Allen spoke to Dr Jordan Nunan, former police officer, Senior Lecturer in Criminal at the University of Northampton, and National Co-ordinator for the National Police Chief’s Council’s Intelligence Practice Research Consortium, about the value of police-academic partnerships, the Achilles heel tactic, and the crucial role of human intelligence sources in tackling organised crime.

FEATURE: UK National Crime Agency Director General Graeme Biggar has warned that policing and the wider criminal justice system is not moving fast enough or far enough in its efforts to combat the shift online in serious and organised crime, and that the roll out of end-to-end encryption on sites such as Facebook would be “tantamount to consciously turning a blind eye” to child abuse, as Policing Insight’s Keith Potter reports.

ANALYSIS: Confidential informers play a significant role in police investigations around the world, but there are also recognised risks of informers committing ‘treachery’ – either intentionally feeding officers false information, or revealing their identity to a third person; new research by Sgt David Younan and Crime Analyst Sarah Harmer – both of London Police Service, Ontario – examines the instances of treachery by Service informants over a two-decade period, and suggests evidence-based approaches that policing can implement to minimize the risks.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to former Police Scotland Superintendent Martin Gallagher, now a policing consultant and Associate of the London Policing College, about Baroness Casey’s review, taking drug profits away from organised crime, and the importance of eradicating corruption.

INTERVIEW: Police forces globally must embrace new technologies to remain at the cutting edge of gathering, processing and prioritising intelligence; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth spoke to Det Supt Brian Hanna of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), and Graham Kissock, PSNI’s Head of International Programmes, about developing the force’s intelligence capabilities through participation in a new pan-European network of law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

OPINION: With the information war increasingly taking place on digital platforms, and cheaper technology making covert surveillance more available, some argue that the importance of human intelligence (HUMINT) sources in law enforcement appears to be diminishing; but Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth believes HUMINT still has an essential role to play in meeting strategic intelligence requirements.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to Steve Hone, former National Crime Agency (NCA) Regional Manager for North America, Canada and the Caribbean and now an independent serious and organised crime consultant, about Afghanistan, targeting crack, and the importance of covert human intelligence sources.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to Sir Jon Murphy, Professor of Advanced Policing Studies at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and former Chief Constable of Merseyside Police about the untapped academic resource in fighting organised crime, targeting criminal communications, and the challenges of technological change.

ANALYSIS: Politically motivated crime has been recognised as an issue needing specific attention for more than a century, but with multiple agencies now active in the sector, co-ordinating that response can be difficult; Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth looks at the challenges presented by politically motivated crimes, and the importance of differentiating between extremism and terrorism.

ANALYSIS: Despite increasingly sophisticated security measures, vehicle theft in the UK is back on the rise – much of it involving cars stolen by international organised crime groups; West Midlands PC Andrew Lavanchy looks at the scale and changing nature of vehicle theft, and what steps policing could take to combat the car thieves.

INTERVIEW: In the latest in a series of interviews with leading figures involved in the research and investigation of organised crime, Policing Insight’s Chris Allen spoke to Dr Ian Stanier, Visiting Lecturer at Buckingham University’s Centre for Security and Intelligence, about the importance of CHIS and HUMINT, expanding the capability and capacity of UK covert investigations, and the FIREPLACES informant motivation model.

INNOVATION: With global digitalisation, an increasingly complex international security landscape and the rapid advances in technology, new intelligence gathering tools and techniques are developing at pace; now a new European collaboration of 15 intelligence and security agencies has been established to focus and share research and development, as Policing Insight’s Andrew Staniforth reports.

FEATURE: A new book by the former Director of GCHQ the UK’s first Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator outlines some of the key skills and attributes required of spies; but as Policing Insight's Andrew Staniforth reports, the book includes approaches and attitudes that would benefit any police officer involved in intelligence gathering and analytical thinking.

Opinion: In Australia, the recent Victorian Royal Commission into Police Management of Informants has highlighted concerns over police accountability, and called for major changes around oversight and transparency; but Professor Jude McCulloch and Professor Michael Maguire, both of Monash University, argue that real progress will require more extensive reform.

ANALYSIS: The COVID-19 pandemic created new challenges for all sectors of policing. David Page, a former police officer who specialised in intelligence and counter-terrorism (CT), and who is now a university lecturer and consultant, explores the impact of the pandemic on CT.

Opinion: There has been a 40 per cent decline in intelligence analysts since 2010. Former GMP Assistant Chief Constable and now CoPaCC Director Ian Wiggett attended the National Intelligence Conference in Cardiff where he found local intelligence provision is coming under increasing pressure.

Opinion: The police's reliance on a paid informant who was a convicted paedophile to help convict 18 people sexually exploiting young women and girls shocked many. Adrian Kingswell, a retired Senior Investigating Officer specialising in covert policing, considers whether the time has come to be more open about police use of Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS).