Help Needed: Drug War Chronicle Seeking Cases of Informant Abuse
Many of our readers know about the tragic case of Rachel Hoffman, a 23-year-old in Tallahassee, Florida, who was killed by drug dealers after police coerced her into acting as an informant without having access to an attorney. Drug War Chronicle is currently looking for cases, reported or unreported, in which police appear to have committed misconduct or made serious misjudgments in their treatment of informants.
If you can help us find such cases, please email David Borden at borden@drcnet.org. We will keep your name and personal information confidential unless you tell us otherwise. If you are uncomfortable sending this information by email, feel free to contact us by phone instead; our office number is (202) 293-8340, and you can speak or leave a message with David Borden or David Guard. Thank you in advance for your help.
Further information on the informant issue, including the Rachel Hoffman case, can be found in our category archive here.
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Police intimidation to act as an informer
Comment posted by Anonymous on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 3:28pmTwo minor girls were caught with a pipe and approximately one gram of marijuana and were subsequently coerced into giving statements that indicated they obtained these items from a couple that were growing four marijuana plants at their house.
The police went to the house and told the couple they had to go to the police station. Once there, they were questioned and threatened with a polygraph and the removal of their children over the allegations.
In fear, the couple admitted to having the plants and the husband using weed in a medical sense. The wife did not smoke.
Now they are demanding the couple engage in informing or be charged with felonies.
The police have served no warrants and no charges have been filed. The police received the four plants from the couple voluntarily.
The couple were ordered to tell NO ONE about these events, but they in no way want to cooperate with the police, or suffer charges from this incident.
The police told the couple they could hold these charges over them for seven years, charging them at whim.