FBI Confidential Human Source Guidelines

Suppose you are a public employee and you see evidence of public corruption or other criminal behavior in superiors, maybe even in elected officials. Perhaps you've been told to drop an investigation or shred documents that you know would be evidence.

But you are honest. You have integrity. You don't want your agency corrupted by their dishonesty. At the same time, you are concerned. If you come forward with your information, will your identity be revealed? Will your job, or worse, your own or your family's safety be jeopardized by your doing the right thing?

Your concerns are reasonable, particularly if you're considering taking your information to local, county, or state police agencies. Its hard to know what standards, if any, these agencies have for handling confidential human sources, particularly if potential offenders are superiors of or supervisors in these agencies.

Most federal agencies that routinely use confidential human sources have developed guidelines to protect the source and the information s/he has and wants to share. One example is The Attorney General's Guidelines Regarding the Use of FBI Confidential Human Sources.