An opportunity lost? The declining role of authorised covert human intelligence sources in combating organised crime
Combatting organised crime, requires Agencies to deploy a range of collection capabilities to identify community threats, to accurately select and prioritise organised crime targets and to inform operational decision-making. Central to this effort is the ability to identify, recruit and deploy Cover...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Economic Criminology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949791424000721 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841560015981248512 |
|---|---|
| author | Ian Stanier Jordan Nunan |
| author_facet | Ian Stanier Jordan Nunan |
| author_sort | Ian Stanier |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Combatting organised crime, requires Agencies to deploy a range of collection capabilities to identify community threats, to accurately select and prioritise organised crime targets and to inform operational decision-making. Central to this effort is the ability to identify, recruit and deploy Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS). It is therefore paradoxical that the United Kingdom’s CHIS authorisations have been in steep decline since the enactment of the bespoke Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Scotland Act, 2000). This research seeks to critically discuss as to what are the key factors contributing to this decline. Consequently, this review suggests that the decline in CHIS authorisations are to be found in a complex configuration of factors. Two stand out as significant; i) the impact of resource reduction on CHIS operational capacity and capability, and ii) an emergence of a culture of fear and risk aversion as a constraining factor on CHIS recruitment and use. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-182610703cb245fa86c63fb3c5a4ed96 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2949-7914 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Economic Criminology |
| spelling | doaj-art-182610703cb245fa86c63fb3c5a4ed962025-01-05T04:28:55ZengElsevierJournal of Economic Criminology2949-79142025-03-017100120An opportunity lost? The declining role of authorised covert human intelligence sources in combating organised crimeIan Stanier0Jordan Nunan1Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, University of Buckingham, United KingdomFaculty of Business and Law, University of Northampton, United Kingdom; Corresponding author.Combatting organised crime, requires Agencies to deploy a range of collection capabilities to identify community threats, to accurately select and prioritise organised crime targets and to inform operational decision-making. Central to this effort is the ability to identify, recruit and deploy Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS). It is therefore paradoxical that the United Kingdom’s CHIS authorisations have been in steep decline since the enactment of the bespoke Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Scotland Act, 2000). This research seeks to critically discuss as to what are the key factors contributing to this decline. Consequently, this review suggests that the decline in CHIS authorisations are to be found in a complex configuration of factors. Two stand out as significant; i) the impact of resource reduction on CHIS operational capacity and capability, and ii) an emergence of a culture of fear and risk aversion as a constraining factor on CHIS recruitment and use.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949791424000721InformantsHUMINTCHISIntelligenceCovert human intelligence sourcesCovert |
| spellingShingle | Ian Stanier Jordan Nunan An opportunity lost? The declining role of authorised covert human intelligence sources in combating organised crime Journal of Economic Criminology Informants HUMINT CHIS Intelligence Covert human intelligence sources Covert |
| title | An opportunity lost? The declining role of authorised covert human intelligence sources in combating organised crime |
| title_full | An opportunity lost? The declining role of authorised covert human intelligence sources in combating organised crime |
| title_fullStr | An opportunity lost? The declining role of authorised covert human intelligence sources in combating organised crime |
| title_full_unstemmed | An opportunity lost? The declining role of authorised covert human intelligence sources in combating organised crime |
| title_short | An opportunity lost? The declining role of authorised covert human intelligence sources in combating organised crime |
| title_sort | opportunity lost the declining role of authorised covert human intelligence sources in combating organised crime |
| topic | Informants HUMINT CHIS Intelligence Covert human intelligence sources Covert |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949791424000721 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ianstanier anopportunitylostthedecliningroleofauthorisedcoverthumanintelligencesourcesincombatingorganisedcrime AT jordannunan anopportunitylostthedecliningroleofauthorisedcoverthumanintelligencesourcesincombatingorganisedcrime AT ianstanier opportunitylostthedecliningroleofauthorisedcoverthumanintelligencesourcesincombatingorganisedcrime AT jordannunan opportunitylostthedecliningroleofauthorisedcoverthumanintelligencesourcesincombatingorganisedcrime |