Police paid informants £850,000 in three years during the fight against organised crime in Scotland 

Police Scotland paid informants more than £850,000 in three years as part of the fight against organised crime.

The force paid out £859,000 to confidential informants for tips during 2020, 2021 and 2022, including £288,850 handed out last year.

It forked out £305,588 in 2021 and £264,607 in 2020, according to data released under freedom of information laws. 

Police Scotland says informers are ‘a vital tool’ as it battles rising crime and serious organised gangsters who are involved in a wide range of criminal acts and often more than one illegal activity at any given time.

The Scottish Government’s Serious Organised Crime In Scotland report said these activities include drug supply and distribution, human trafficking and fraud as well as money laundering, violence and corruption. 

Police Scotland paid out £859,000 to confidential informants for tips during 2020, 2021 and 2022, including £288,850 handed out last year

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Police Scotland says informers are ‘a vital tool’ as it battles rising crime and serious organised gangsters who are involved in a wide range of criminal acts and often more than one illegal activity at any given time

Payments made to informants can be as little as two-figure sums for tips relating to lower-profile cases, to many thousands of pounds for information helping to fight organised crime gangs.

They are typically decided on an individual basis and dependent on the strength of the information and the outcome.

Covert Human Intelligence Sources authorisations are governed by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000.

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: ‘The use of Covert Human Intelligence Sources is a successful, highly regulated and independently scrutinised tactic which supports officers to keep people safe.’

Graeme Pearson, former head of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, said: ‘The use of informants has been in place since the beginning of the police service. They are invaluable in showing how crime is working and who the key players are.’

But Neil Woods, a former undercover officer, said: ‘If you arrest a drug dealer on the information of an informant, you remove a drug dealer. All it does is create an opportunity for another dealer.’