Hertfordshire Police have spent more than £300,000 paying police informers in the last five years, a Freedom of Information request has found. 

The force were unable to provide details of what they payments were for incase they endangered their informants.

Cambridge News report:

Newly released figures showed that on average more than £60,000 is spent every year on covert human intelligence sources – the police term for informers – adding up to more than £300,000 over the last five years.

The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, showed that in 2009-10 Herts police paid out more than £80,000.

Paul Ealham, director of intelligence at Hertfordshire Constabulary, said: “All informants have to be risk assessed and fully documented, and must only be used when it is considered proportionate and necessary.

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Matthew Burgess
http://www.mattburgess.co
I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.