Chapter 1 : Sources or Agents

Introduction

The police force is a state organ in charge of maintaining internal security. Its duties are specified in a particular jurisdiction; its powers are specified in accordance with the Law of Criminal Procedures and other criminal laws.

The police force uses the legal, technical and administrative means and methods necessary to ensure the execution of its duties in order to maintain the overall security of society.

When these police means and methods precede or, in some cases, coincide with the incidents which violate security, they are protective measures. When the measures follow the incidents endangering security, they are measures which bring the incident to light after the fact.

Information is the basis and foundation on which the both the above measures depend.

The police force, whatever the advantages of modem technologies, could not do without the human sources that provide information which help it to practice crime control and promote the execution of justice.

Today, sources of information and the help they provide have become part of a process that is based on the scientific analysis of the information obtained. The source is no longer a person who stoops to selling information, or an idealist who volunteers information in order to control crime. The issue of information is now governed by many objective and legitimate considerations based on the type of information required and human psychology. Analysts are able to transform the information into a form applicable in the field of crime control.

Overall maintenance of security calls on various security organs to deploy agents to watch for signs of crime.

Sources of information or agents are one of the significant means by which the police force controls crime.

Defining the Agent

The agent is an ordinary person whom the police secretly approach to help them by providing information on a crime that is being planned for the future, or is taking place or has already taken place.

This definition may be analysed in detail as follows:
- " An ordinary person": not a policeman or a Commissioner of Police (attorney, member of the judiciary, etc.)
- " Information": news or information relating to a crime that is being planned in the near future or a crime that is currently taking place or a crime that has already taken place.
- Such information would relate to the person who committed the crime or the object of the crime or witnesses to the crime, or the means by which the crime was committed, or reason for committing the crime, or evidence leading to the solution of the crime. Alternatively, the information provided could help to prevent a crime being committed, or aid in the detection of a planned crime.
- The relationship between the agent and the policeman is not made public.
Legitimacy of the Work of the Agent

Sharia Law and the Agent

The use of an agent who provides information in the security process has been a controversial issue, particularly with regard to the legitimacy of the work and the legality of the evidence extracted from such an informant. Of particular concern is whether the acquisition of information that results in legal proceedings violates personal privacy. When we refer this issue to Sharia Law we find the solutions consistent with the goals of Sharia.

The meaning of the words of Allah:
And the meaning of His words:
These are the legitimate principles and fixed rules of Sharia. The first refers to the person who provides information as being a sinner who is not to be believed, and warns that the information provided by such a person might harm others. The second speaks about the method of collecting information through espionage and uncovering people's secrets.

However, it is accepted that for each rule an exception may be made for the sake of necessity and public interest. If wrongdoers were free to commit crimes against the security of the state and its people, grave damage to the community would result. Therefore, the necessity of protecting the community allows for the use of an agent for collecting and monitoring information on wrongdoers and lawbreakers. The information collected would be used to take legal measures for preventing, controlling and detecting crime; all of which rest on legal rules that are based on Sharia Law.

As long as the information collection is carded out in the public interest, the subsequent legal measures will be supported by the legitimacy of the public interest allowed and approved by Islam.

Criminal Law and the agent

All these are references to the legality of collecting information and making use of it.
1. Laws derive their legitimacy from the Sharia of Allah; they are completely consistent with the goals of Sharia.
2. The Sudan Criminal Code (1991) does not explicitly refer to any issue associated with sources or agents. It does implicitly provide some indications that may generally be understood as referring to the source. This is understood from the clauses of the Criminal Code Procedures.
3. A definition of an investigation is given in Article (5) which reads:
4. Procedures start with information, data and deduction, which lead to detecting the truth and assembling a group of facts about events which have occurred, constituting the core of the criminal case, all this being before the trial.
5. Bringing a criminal case means subjecting any person to judicial procedures for committing an action that may constitute a crime. This applies to any act punishable by law.
6. Criminal procedures are considered to be part of the general overall procedures included in an investigation, as defined, but procedures as a term may be defined as:
  So "procedures" also refers to the group of procedures preceding, coinciding with or succeeding the crime.
7. Therefore, as long as procedures always precede, coincide with or succeed the crime, they are included in the "overall acts carded out or statements made" by crime control authorities. Here we are confining ourselves to the police force, as its method of collecting information is one of its methods of preventing and uncovering crime.
8. What we have explained is consistent with to the definition of the preliminary investigation stipulated in Article (5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure:
9. The use of sources of information or agents is one of the methods and means that helps the investigator at all stages of the criminal case, whether preceding, coinciding or succeeding the offence.
10. The agent sometimes happens to be a collaborator who voluntarily reveals the crime of his partners by giving information. This is sometimes the only means of detecting the details and complexity of the crime. Here this source (agent) will have legal support by becoming the primary witness protected by law, so he is a protected agent. His identity is revealed only to the judiciary.
11. Sometimes the information the agent possesses is so involved that he needs to give evidence in court, as the prosecution or the defence often raise objections to his absence, or his presence is occasioned by the need to serve justice. Here the agent sacrifices anonymity in order to serve justice.
12. Sometimes the agent may be revealed and his anonymity lost when an unskilled police officer presses his source to become a part of the investigation in order to achieve justice.
13. Some jurists believe that when the agent has played his part and accomplished his task, he is no longer of use to the system and it might be better to reveal his identity if this is necessary for the sake of justice. They suspect the agent may misuse for personal gain the secret protection he has been granted. They would prefer to sacrifice the agent for the partial benefit of the community.
14. The above opinion generally surfaces when it becomes evident that the agent is misusing the protection for his own benefit. It is an exception to the generally accepted rule that the agent's part and identity must be kept confidential as an ethical commitment, an aspect well established in the institutions concerned with crime control (the police, legal bodies, and the judiciary.
15. Finally, we can sum up the arguments by saying that the whole issue depends on the skill and wisdom of the policeman. He is the one who conducts criminal procedures in the manner we have stated; he is the one who uses the legal procedures as an umbrella to protect his source, in order to obtain the information the agent provides for investigation
Importance of the Agent's Work
1. Policemen and inspectors cannot exercise surveillance themselves, everywhere, all the time. They need to have observers dispersed through the area to provide them with information.
2. Methods of surveillance of criminals, however well developed they may be, and the technological means used in this field, however modernised they may be, cannot take the place of human sources of information.
3. In order to get to the truth and clarify the events leading to the crime, policemen have to accept or seek out sources of information and co-operate with citizens.
4. Communities are sometimes composed of closed circles of religious, political, tribal or sectarian groups or criminal groups impenetrable to the outsider. It is difficult for the police to gain information about these groups without penetrating them by means of agents who become members of the group.
5. There are certain groups whose nature makes it difficult for the police to contact them directly, such as women's organisations, groups of occupants of senior posts, and ideological or spiritual leaders.
Types of Agent

There are various types of agent. Agents vary as to the motivation for their work with the police, the nature of their work, the tasks assigned to them and the class they come from. So it is difficult to give a precise classification. However, there are general basic criteria according to which agents may be classified.

Classification by ethical content of motive
- Agent with high and ethical motives
- Agent with ignoble motives
Classification by material content of motive
- Unpaid agent
- Paid agent
Classification by permanence of relationship
- Temporary agent
- Permanent agent
There may be permutations of these six groups; we may find an agent who works without payment but in a permanent or temporary form. We may also find an agent who works for pay on a temporary or permanent basis. The elements above help us to classify agents in another manner:
Characteristics of the Agent

Increases in crime force communities to take every means, both traditional and technological, to combat it. The human agent remains an essential element of crime prevention. We need to recruit and train agents and provide them with modern technological aids. What are the characteristics of the ideal agent? The agent should possess:
1. Finely attuned senses in order to absorb information;
2. Ability to access the information relating to the case, either directly or indirectly through his relationships and contacts with certain groups in the community;
3. A sufficient level of knowledge and culture to give him entr6e into certain groups in order to acquire information;
4. Honesty of speech and action, so that his information can be accepted as reliable;
5. Good powers of observation and memory to enable him to perceive and the events, scenes and acts of the persons whom he is charged to observe. He must be able to recall and report on all of this in a clear, precise manner;
6. Calmness and self-control in a crisis, and enough courage to obtain information even in dangerous situations;
7. Ability to dissemble convincingly when necessary to obtain information;
8. An ability to blend into groups and adapt to their ways so that he can gain their trust; ability to play a part to allay suspicion and obtain the information;
9. Ability to think quickly in tricky situations that might give away his mission;
10. Discretion and an ability to keep secrets;
11. Dedication to and enthusiasm for his work and the tasks he is asked to perform;
12. Ability to resist the temptation to become a double agent, working both for the law and criminal elements;
13. Honest motivation; he should not provide information for underhand motives of his own.
It may seem unlikely, even impossible, for all these characteristics to be found in one agent. Some of the characteristics are personal attributes, others are behavioural; some are intrinsic, and others are acquired. For example, reliability and honesty tend to be rare amongst recidivists and previous offenders or agents who interact with criminal groups, although such a person may experience a crisis of conscience and endeavour to obtain information for ethical reasons. The policeman needs to be aware of this and treat the information with caution.

The ideal characteristics listed above of course differ in each individual case and depend on circumstances. What should be understood as a basic principle is that dealing with agents is an exceptional situation, hedged with suspicion and doubts. 'Halal" (permissive acts) are obvious, Hamm (prohibited acts) are obvious, but in between there are complex issues..."³ Good conduct is the ideal; crime, injustice and wrongdoing are evil. The nature of man fluctuates between good and evil.

Every unusual situation has its risks which need to be taken into account by those who deal with that situation. One agent may possess some of the ideal characteristics but lack others. The policeman needs the skill to use the agent, with his behavioural and personal qualities, in a way that leads to the production of the required information. This depends on the experience and intelligence of the policeman.
Introduction to Recruitment of Agents

Working in the field of crime control obliges those who work in this field (such as Crime Inspectors and Investigators) to be continuously on the lookout for agents. Their success depends on the help and assistance of such agents in preventing or detecting an offence.

The first success of a policeman in his field motivates him to achieve further successes. His success depends on how many agents he has. A policeman who has many agents in various fields will have on call, when in need of urgent information of some kind, an appropriate and suitable agent who will in turn provide the required information.

An experienced policeman usually has contact with a reasonable number of agents, even so many that he may not have made the necessary technological arrangements. In other cases he may have worked systematically, and looking back on his career may realise that he has recruited many agents as sources of information., using either classical methods learnt during his training or other methods as dictated by circumstances.

Generally, the human experience in social sciences does not follow fixed scientific rules as in the applied sciences. So the degree of success in the field may vary.
Where to Find Agents

The identity of an agent is not something to be made public. The policeman endeavours to keep his identity secret in order to have the benefit of his information. The accumulated experience of police in this field has over time established that certain members of the community may fruitfully be used as agents and sources of information. We can summarise these as follows:

Public transport personnel
1. Those transporting passengers (by land; sea; air)
2. Those involved with shipment of cargo (by land; sea; air)
3. Cargo and passenger agencies
4. Porters
Public recreation personnel; those who work in:
1. Restaurants, coffee shops and parks
2. Sports fields and playgrounds
3. Cinemas, theatres and museums
4. Public gardens
Those in some commercial undertakings and professions:
1. Mobile merchants
2. Grocers
3. Barbers
4. Estate agents
5. Hotel managers and staff
6. Automobile repair and second-hand spare-parts dealers
7. Guards and night watchmen
8. Petrol station personnel
9. Trade middlemen
10. Studio personnel
Persons in contact with the offence (offenders; delinquents; suspects):
1. Persons who were active in crime but have desisted and taken on honest work; their past links with the criminal community and offenders are still maintained.
2. Active criminals whose internal disputes prove useful to police
Nowadays the following groups can be added as useful elements and agents:
1. Various mass media personnel
2. Photographers
3. News agency personnel
4. Correspondents and journalists, television and radio personnel
In general, moreover, we can say that the issue of where to find an agent has broadened. The world has become a global village in which telecommunications and swift transport have reduced time and distance, so modern technological methods should be utillised in obtaining information from agents, the cornerstone of the overall security process.

However, there are general frameworks and guidelines that may be used. Success is the decisive criterion in any of the means and methods that police use to reach their goals.

At this point it may be appropriate to examine the beneficiary of the information, the policeman. How can we create a crime inspector who is able to attract and recruit agents? The crime inspector required for this task should be judged according to two essential factors:
1. Character and behavior of the policeman towards the agent
2. Style of contact with the agent
This may be an appropriate introduction to a discussion of how agents are recruited. The issue to be understood here is that the recruitment of the agent is determined by the purpose and objective of the acquisition of the information. This objective should be precisely determined so that the agent is carefully selected and procedures strictly adhered to. In this way the policeman will be able at the appropriate time to obtain the information which will assist him in his task of preventing, arresting or detecting crime in the interests of overall security.
Recruitment of Agents

The recruitment of an agent is the process of attracting an ordinary person and enlisting him as an agent who will be able to provide information that will help the policeman to prevent an offence that is being planned, halt a crime in progress or uncover a crime that has already been committed.

On this process depends the success of the field crime inspector, it provides him with solid grounds for controlling crime.

Recruitment processes, and the stages through which they must pass until the agent become useful, are not the result of chance and spontaneous action. They demand careful planning and faith in God (Allah) as the party that dominates over evil.

An urgent need for information that might solve the anomalies of a certain crime usually induces a policeman to look for an agent that can provide him with this information; as well as his desire to support the victims, return goods to their rightful owners and generally maintain overall security and see that justice is served for the sake of the community.

There is a golden rule in the criminal investigation field, known all over the world, which poses five questions in the case of each offence. The answers to these questions are the keys to the solution of the crime. They are the five W's: What; Why; When; Where, and Who?

The agent who is the subject of our research is linked in some way to the event and on his information our procedures will be based, whether before, at the time of or after the crime. This leads to the steps to be followed in order to recruit the agent.

Determining what is needed

Determining the purpose for which the agent is to be recruited is the first step in the recruitment process. Answers to the following questions help us to analyse the purpose for which the agent is to be recruited.

1. What happened?

An offence has actually occurred or is going to take place, according to the information available at the time.

2. Why did it take place?

What are the motives? How did it take place? Or how will it take place? This is ascertained from the data and according to the means used.

3. When?

When will it occur or did it occur?

4. Where?

Where will it or did it take place? There may be more than one location.

5. Who?

What is the identity of the offender and the victim or victims?

Completing these analytic answers will help to precisely determine the purpose. The answer to each question of the five W's gives an indication as to which is the suitable agent whose information may lead to taking the necessary measures.
It is convenient to pose the five W's in a different way when targeting the agent that we are approaching after determining the purpose.

Let us start selecting the agent with the last question:

1. Who?

Who is a suitable agent that could help us?

2. Where?

Where will we find that agent? Which are suitable locations in which to meet him and test him?

3. When?

When do we contact the agent? Choosing the right time.

4. Why?

Why this agent in particular? Is it possible to have multiple agents?

5. What?

What is the task of the agent, in view of our analysis of the purpose?

The outcome of this analysis leads to an agent or to a number of agents who will be able to provide information needed for the purpose we have arrived at.

Selection

After analysing the purpose and arriving at a description of the kind of agent needed provide the required information, the research should be concentrated on possible agents. Identities of possible agents begin crystallising gradually. Detailed research should be instituted on the possible weaknesses of these individuals. What would be their motivation for providing information? A sense of adventure? A simple desire to provide information? Are they new at the game? Are they likely to succumb to corruption, greed for money, a desire for fame or revenge? Do they enjoy the link with the police?

Once an agent is nominated, a process begins of collecting data about the agent - his character, qualities, behaviour, history in crime, relationship with others, his usefulness. All this is the responsibility of the policeman who needs the information. When this is complete, the policeman moves to the next step of the process of recruitment.

The Approach

The sum of information the policeman has obtained about the agent is added to that already known to the police and now he needs to utilise it:
1. The policeman may make use of lists of the individual's social circles by visiting and frequenting meetings, colleges, places of work where he may come across the agent and approach him.
2. Possible agents frequently come to the policeman, either for work or through their contacts with others.
3. The policeman may decide to behave with sympathy and cordiality towards vulnerable and arrested suspects. This approach may persuade them to provide information about their gangs and contacts. The policeman here relies upon his experience and professional knowledge, social skills, presence of mind and intelligence in the way he approaches a prospect for recruitment as an agent, whether professional or not.
4. The method of approach may actually involve visiting the agent. This is risky and more likely to fail than succeed, but an approach to the agent on his own ground at the right time may be successful.
5. Sometimes the meeting with a possible agent takes place simply by accident; the ability to capitalise on this chance meeting by approaching the prospect may be a decisive factor in recruiting an important agent.
6. Meetings and visits may become frequent, encouraged by frequent conversations and by the policeman's ability to utilise his information about the agent. Throughout all this some policeman may not reveal their own personality; on the other hand the policeman's forceful personality may be a decisive factor in the agent's accepting recruitment, even against his will. However, in other cases their personalities may prove compatible and they may spontaneously find that they get on well and have much in common.
Once the process of recruitment has been completed, the next step is the testing of the agent.

Testing

The next step is to verify the agent's abilities, his effectiveness in the tasks assigned to him, and his obedient response to the duties entrusted to him. Testing the agent is a continuous process, by verifying every new item of information, which if correct enhances in turn the agent's credibility and conscientiousness. The agent has to be watched in all his activities and relationships, though at the beginning he will display some nervousness and hesitation. He should be given encouragement and the policeman should take every measure to relax and reassure him. He should be assured that the matter will remain confidential. Initial tests, when the policeman is meeting an agent recently recruited to provide information, can be summarised as follows:
1. Reviewing the information provided by the agent and verifying it by means of another agent or by field inspection personnel
2. Having his information about criminals planning an activity double-checked by field crime inspection units, while at the same time the agent himself is being observed
3. Carefully examining information about an activity of a specific recidivist or a new offender for a link between the agent and the person in question; there may be ill-feeling or a spirit of competition between them or they may be working together.
4. Confirming the reliability of information supplied by his agent is always the responsibility of the policeman who deals with him, as he is the one who knows him best and his knowledge of the agent confirms and reinforces the validity or unreliability of his information.
5. Policemen must understand that the agent is an individual who is psychologically vulnerable, or who has been affected by a poor social background which caused him to divert from the right path into crime. The policeman is also supposed to reform these individuals, with the encouragement that by acting as agents they are performing a moral duty commended by religion and demonstrating right values. The agent's helping to prevent crime is an application of the saying of Prophet Muhammad /Peace and payers be upon him); so his natural instinct will be to return to better values and become a person with no corrupt motives and a desire to promote God's values by doing the right thing for himself and others.
Guidance

This is the final step in the recruitment of the agent. The agent is the means by which the policeman is going to gain information, so the policeman has an essential role in securing the agent and making the arrangements for the way in which the information is to be obtained, whether it is of major or minor importance and whether it is obtained directly or indirectly, so that the information will be generally accepted and materially useful.
Relationship with the agent

The relationship between the policeman and the agent is a special one; although it is not made public, the cover of secrecy does not mean that it is a relationship devoid of rules and morality.
1. The fact that the policeman has approached the agent should not lead to familiarity, the relationship between him and the agent has to be based on mutual respect.
2. There is a continuous commitment by the agent to implement the instructions of the policeman.
3. The policeman should only reveal to the agent the facts pertaining to his task i.e. the event about which the agent is required to provide information. Supplying the agent with information on a need-to-know basis maintains the secrecy of work.
4. The policeman should create a moral distance between him and the agent, yet without condescension. He should encourage the agent and express appreciation of his efforts.
5. The policeman should, however, convey to the agent that the policeman is the one doing the favour. He is the agent's instructor, friend, or brother. He should try to instil better values in him, and should be able to perceive opportunities for reform and building bridges of confidence between them.
6. The policeman should continue to show an interest in the agent and maintain the relationship even when there is no operation or task to be performed by the agent, so that the relationship is not reduced to a temporary exchange of benefits.
7. The policeman should not, on the other hand, be running after the agent all the time, nor visit his place of residence frequently nor accompany him in his car unless this is necessary for a certain reason.
8. The policeman should not make promises hr cannot fulfil, as this will damage his credibility and the agent's confidence in him, but should reward the agent with the available funds or in kind.
9. The policeman should allow a certain level of exchange of views and discussion with the agent, without losing his control of the relationship. Requests for the agent to perform a certain task should be businesslike, with fixed time limits and providing for certain possible alternatives.
Dealing with the agent

Contact with the agent

This is one of the most important aspects of surveillance, and the policeman should make the most of his own ability and experience. It is the only means through which information is to be obtained from the agent. Generally, when contacting the agent, the policeman should consider the following:
1. Complete secrecy of the communication process should be maintained.
2. Contact with the agent should take place outside the workplace.
3. Meetings and contacts should not repeatedly take place in the same places and at regular times. These should preferably be varied.
4. The place and time of meeting should be determined in advance between the policeman and the agent, choosing alternatives in advance lest either or both of them should be watched.
5. The place of meeting should always be determined by the policeman, keeping in mind anticipated disadvantages or disturbances.
6. During telephone or radio communication, names should not be mentioned and an agreed cipher or codes should be adopted. Nevertheless, this type of contact is not desirable.
7. The contact should be a direct personal meeting between the policeman and the agent, with exceptions for certain reasons (security considerations, holidays and leaves, health conditions, etc.).
8. The best time for contacts and meetings is at night, and preferably at varying times. There should be a commitment by both to meet at the specific time, as long as it can be done without attracting the attention of others.
9. Contact may take the form of written letters between the policeman and the agent. In this case the letters and their place of collection, transport and delivery should be secure.
10. Contact between the two may for some reason need to be be wordless but using certain signals.
11. Contact should be completed in as short a time as possible in the circumstances. A cipher or code should be agreed on between the two. and they should make use of every minute. The time taken is determined by the purpose of the contact and what exactly is required.
Obtaining the information from the agent

In order to obtain the exact information needed, and to save time, the following guidelines are important for the policeman:
1. Control the dialogue with the agent by deciding on the purpose and keeping to the point without going into too much detail.
2. Do not interrupt the agent while he is speaking once he has been directed towards the purpose of the contact.
3. When more details are needed than he has given, probe tactfully and skilfully for the details.
4. Avoid posing questions which show you already have information he is supplying to you.
5. Make the agent feel that all the information he has provided is valuable, even if it is in fact trivial.
6. Express appreciation and gratitude for his efforts when the information he has provided is valuable.
7. Do not disclose to the agent any information which contradicts that which you have obtained from him - he might himself be probing for such information.
8. Do not pose questions which will offend his dignity or humiliate him.
9. Record information during the contact or directly after the meeting and in any case as soon as possible.
10. When it is possible to have another policeman at the meeting, one may assume questioning while the other writes down information.
11. Avoid showing too much knowledge of the agent's private affairs by posing questions indicating your familiarity with them - this might deter him from proceeding.
12. Some agents are naturally talkative; put up with them because they may be useful.
13. The motives that have induced the agent to co-operate should be tactfully reiterated or referred to in order to reinforce the motivation.
Remunerating the agent

Appreciation and gratitude are sometimes sufficient for some agents in return for the information they provide. Other agents may opt for reward in the form of money or services. However, there are general principles to be considered as regards rewarding the agents:
1. The delivery of the reward to the agent should take place in a very confidential manner, even if there is a written document entitling the agent to the money for his work.
2. If the agent has been promised in advance a financial reward in return for a certain amount of information to be given in a certain manner and within a certain time, the promise should be honoured once the agent has executed what is required.
3. Whatever the circumstances may be, the policeman should never agree to give the agent any of the items or objects seized in an offence in connection with which he has provided information. Any policeman who does so is making a grave mistake that may subject him to administrative or criminal penalties. Such practices fuel suspicion of the policeman himself and conflict with the general principle that an offence cannot be combated by committing another offence. There are, however, laws stipulating a percentage reward of the seized money (Customs Act - Smuggling Control). This method of recompense requires close surveillance by the police officer of his subordinates at seizure and search operations; there could be an agreement between one of his subordinates and the agent who guides them to the seized items, particularly when the agent has belonged to or is still a member of the same group whose goods have just been seized, such as drug dealers.
4. The reward should not consist of assisting the agent to practise an unlawful act under the protection of a policeman. The offence on which the agent is collecting information should not be combated by another offence committed by the agent as a reward for his information.
5. The agent may be rewarded by direct or indirect help to the agent and his family or one of its members if the policeman knows their circumstances. This is common in the case of those agents who have presented their information with no desire or greed for remuneration. This human gesture will be appreciated and will probably lead to further co-operation between the police and the agent.
6. The policeman may commend the agent and the role he has played to his supervisors in his work that has no connection with the information he has provided. This will be of moral and other benefit to the agent in his work.
Registering the agent

This is one of the measures that enhances the relationship between the policeman and the agent, realigns the work path and establishes continuity for successive policemen in their battle against crime. It is one of the ways of evaluating the degree of an agent's success in accomplishing the tasks assigned to him. These registers are of great value in the case of professional agents.

The register contains the agent's "curriculum vitae" - activities, successes, failures, relationships and so on.

The register should include the following:
1. Name and nickname (name at work)
2. Race and tribe
3. Age
4. Educational qualifications
5. Craft and vocational qualification
6. Place of residence
7. Place of work
8. Physical appearance and characteristic features
9. Criminal records
10. A photograph - to be obtained directly or indirectly - may be included in the file
11. Data and particulars of identification documents (or passport) may also be included in the file
12. The principle of registering the agent is that any information about him is useful and may be needed, particularly the ways in which he could obtain information, what type of information and how such information could be tested.
13. The keeping of the register of the agent should be the responsibility of the policeman with whom the agent has a relationship - the file should never be in the hands of any other policeman.
14. These registers are secret and confidential. They might be kept and classified according to the type of information the agent is collecting (agents of drug trafficking offences; agents of robbery offences; agents of security breach offences; etc.).
15. Registration and documentation of files may be according to the geographical constituencies of agents or according to type of specialisation in information.
16. It is worth mentioning that file and register keeping has become a science that has lent itself well to computerisation. Computers enhance secrecy, facilitate classification of information, and aid the evaluation and assessment of information and the presentation of objective data on a specific matter. Analysis of information by computer has become increasingly useful in the field of crime prevention.
Authority or Control over the Agent

This phrase may seem very blunt, yet it reflects what should be maintained when the policeman has started to deal with and make use of an agent. The policeman should always be keen to reform the agent. "Control" over the agent should not mean continuous blackmail of the agent that forces him to provide the information even at the expense of his dignity.

There may be a transitional stage, but it should not be a long one. We should proceed from asking the agent to provide the information for material or moral reward to encouraging him to provide information as a duty dictated by religious, ethical and patriotic considerations. In the later stages the controlling force becomes his conscience - internalised control. Nevertheless, authority over the agent is a very important issue. Those who have fallen into crime tend to vacillate between good and evil, and may show a tendency to hypocrisy or deceit and may be untrustworthy or even treacherous. For these reasons some control over the agent is necessary if the policeman is to obtain appropriate information and get specific tasks executed.

Certain guidelines should be understood by policemen as appropriate indicators for control:
1. The policeman should make a thorough study of the agent's character and psychological state. This is easier when he can refer to the information available about the agent (past history, desires, fears, love of money, fame etc.) as an initial opening for gaining authority over him.
2. The policeman should be able to make himself necessary and indeed indispensable to the agent.
3. There may be a legal situation which the agent can only free himself from by being subject to the policeman. A favourable report from the policeman would free him from some condition (such as surveillance or house arrest).
4. One measure of authority over the agent is that he becomes an open book to the policeman; to whom all his activities are known in detail. The aim of this is not to humiliate him, but to lead him to reform his ways and keep the law. At the same time the agent is aware of the long arm of the law and may claim the protection of the policeman who asks him to provide information about certain crimes to which he is somehow linked.
5. Another way of persuading the agent to improve his conduct is by encouraging him to be more responsible towards his family, as religious and social norms and values oblige him to accept this responsibility. The police may provide moral support and police protection to his family in trouble and make them feel that they have a new friend and protector. So the family, grateful to the mentor who has turned the agent from his ways, becomes a means of control over the agent and an encouragement to reform.
6. The policeman needs to have some hold over the agent lest he misuse the police's need for his information in order to commit crimes while under police protection, or exploit it by settling old accounts.
7. Moreover, the policeman should not involve himself in any questionable relationships to which the agent is party. This would weaken the policeman's reputation with the agent and would lead to a lack of respect and a weakening of the policeman's authority.
8. One aspect of control over the agent lies in allowing him to present all the information he has without interrupting him, as assessment of his information is part of the process of control.
9. Further authority is exercised by not allowing the agent to play any substantial part in planning the execution of the operation related to the information he has provided on a specific event. His participation, if any, should be limited and unrelated to the legal procedures (such as arrest and searches). The agent should not get the idea that he is a part of the operation's planning and execution, as this would weaken the policeman's authority over him.
Protecting the Agent

Part of the literature on police duties relates to providing full protection to the agent and maintaining the absolute confidentiality of his information. Sometimes actions which are taken on the basis of that information call for tact and intelligence on the part of the policeman, who must make it impossible for the agent's identity to be even guessed at, let alone revealed directly. Maintaining the confidentiality of the agent is a factor in successful crime prevention.

We can summarise the principles of protection of the agent as follows:
1. The only link with the agent should be the policeman who has recruited him. Other policemen should not know of the agent's relationship with the policeman, unless absolutely necessary. Others' knowledge of the relationship between the policeman and the agent might not harm the latter, particularly when it is the policeman's supervisors who are aware of it. However, the fewer who know the better, as this might put him in moral or material danger and the confidentiality of his information might be endangered.
2. A deep-seated principle of police work, implicit rather than explicit, is that the agent is entitled to moral and legal protection. The policeman should be able to manage the case in such a way that calling on the agent or referring to him in court is not necessary. Some laws (such as the Sudanese Act of Drug Control) include some measures to protect the agent if it is necessary to call on him in the cause of justice. Further conditional protection is stipulated for those suspects who become agents and lead to the detection of certain crimes.
3. A protective measure is that the material recompense given to the agent should be awarded with the utmost confidentiality by the policeman himself. The policeman should be trusted and allowed freedom of action in this matter. The criterion of his success will be the results and performance of the agents with whom he deals in secret. So it is better for the policeman to use his own discretion in giving incentives to his agents. For the sake of secrecy and confidentiality this approach is preferable to regular documentation of the sums the agent receives, which might reveal his identity.
4. The safeguarding of the personal file of the agent is a vital aspect of protection. It must be personally safeguarded by the policeman who deals with the agent. This file should be kept secret and never disclosed except in circumstances determined by the policeman and his supervisors.
5. One of the basic rules of dealing with agents is that information provided by agent should be confidential, as should be everything pertaining to this information. The time and location of contact with the agents should be secret and undetected in order to protect his identity.
6. Protection of the agent sometimes extends to protection of his family or those who have contact with him or are related to the matter under investigation.
7. Protection of the agent also sometimes extends to the agent's place of work. This agent might furnish information revealing legal or administrative irregularities in the organisation in which he works. It is therefore necessary to inform his supervisors of the truth of the matter, lest he incur severe administrative penalties under cover of administrative law or the by-laws and regulations of that institution, in retribution for his action.
8. Protection might extend further to include precautionary direct or indirect security measures, such as giving the agent a bodyguard or changing his whereabouts.
Fields in Which the Agent may be used

Prevention or cure

It is widely believed that the chief use of agents is to uncover offences already committed. Such a view satisfies the human instinct for detection. On the other hand there is the golden rule that says "Prevention is better than cure". In this view security is seen as a social service which takes great care to prevent potential damage to society becoming actual damage. All preliminary, intermediate and advanced police education methods, as well as criminal procedural laws, stress the prevention principle and warn the future policeman not to place too much emphasis on, or take too much pride in, his successes in crime detection, while failing to prevent crime, which is a more useful service. The spiritual, physical, mental and financial damage and injury to the family caused by a committed crime and the resulting trauma are almost impossible to put right. The overall contribution of crime prevention to security, on the other hand, is greater, while the cost in human and material elements is less than that needed to detect a crime already committed. The social effects of committed offences are also widespread.

Moreover, agents used by police in the fields of crime prevention and crime detection also differ as to their personal qualities and behaviour. The percentages of success of information provided by agents relating to a planned event and one already committed also differ.

The intentions and motives of agents waming of a future crime tend to be honest and straightforward; these are the agents who are most keen to uphold overall security and stability and public confidence. Agents providing information after the event may be acting from certain underhand desires and motives. Dealing with the former type of agent requires caution as to the accuracy of the information but not suspicion of the agent, while agents of the second type should be treated with caution themselves.

So it is easier and more useful to deal with the agents whose focus is the prevention of crime, while dealing with agents of detection requires more caution and vigilance.

However, in general practice it is necessary to use agents of both kinds, and both of them are equally important.

In their ceaseless endeavour to exercise their duties effectively the police need to use all means and methods at their disposal, and the agent is a basic cornerstone of these means and methods.
Uses of Agents

Using agents in crime prevention
1. Crimes against society are those which damage the morals, norms, traditions, customs and beliefs of society. The more active the agent is in uncovering the actions planned by individuals and groups to break the law, the better the performance of police, who can then take the measures necessary to prevent the commission of these crimes which are harmful to social security. Offences involving drugs, prostitution, gambling, intoxication, breaching of public morals or public order, are offences relating to education and behaviour which seriously affect the overall values of society. They are offences in which the family, school and society can play a great role as regards prevention, and it is true that there are always active elements working for good and guided by the moral values of society. Monitoring by agents is a decisive factor enabling the police to protect society.
2. Physical and financial injuries damage the public security as their effects, bodily or financial, are more evident However, In some ways they are easier to understand as they are often the result of violence. Agents giving information on such offences may come from the same groups that commit these crimes, or may have previously known them or somehow got to hear about their activities. This type of offence represents a significant aspect of overall public security and necessitates the use of agents in order to obtain information enabling the necessary strict administrative, legal and technical measures to prevent such offences. Removing the causes leading to them can forestall some offences. However, the measures employed by police to control the persistence of crime are the major factor in crime prevention. Agents play a significant role in this area, in spite of the fact that such crimes are complex and intricate, taking into account the new methods used by bands in robbery, rape, abduction, murder and so on.
3. A third type of crime is damage to political security by groups and activists with ideological, racial, tribal or sectarian orientations. Information provided by agents before the event plays a very decisive role in the police's ability to take the necessary measures to stop these groups. This might involve either addressing and if possible solving the issues that are being raised, or by removing the triggers which might stimulate dot action damaging to security (strikes; confrontations; sabotage, etc.). It is not uncommon for political offences to be accompanied by criminal offences, as opportunistic physical and financial crimes may occur in unstable circumstances. Here agents serve as the prime alarm element, giving the police the chance of taking the necessary preventive measures.
4. The use of agents may, however, be more general, as offences are not as simple as our classification of offences into social, criminal and political ones might suggest. We can not classify crimes in detail, as this is a very complex theoretical exercise, and some offences differ in type and number and others vary according to the circumstances of each case. However, we may highlight some general aspects as follows:
  1. Some social security offences relate to criminal security (eg drug offences, breaches of public order). Some criminal offences (such as smuggling; forgery; counterfeit money manufacture) are all committed in complete secrecy. As secrecy is one of the crucial factors of these groups, penetration could not be undertaken by policemen, however well prepared, as such groups of criminals re-form and reassess their situation whenever they sense the intrusion of alien or unfamiliar elements into their work. So such police actions require an exceptional type of agent, one able to penetrate those groups.
  2. The extent of police dependence on an agent varies with the offence. The existence of evidence and incriminating items left by the offender at the scene of the crime may lead to his capture in offences such as murder and robbery. In this case the suspect's confession may be considered as the decisive factor in the detection of the crime. Nevertheless, such offences are sometimes very complicated. An agent may be necessary to trace the victim of such a crime. Or the agent may be used only at some stage in the investigation to find out more information about the suspects, or uncover the possible whereabouts of items relating to the crime, or reveal the identities of the suspect's partners in crime.
  3. Sometimes an agent is recruited to watch suspects and their contacts, whether in prison or outside, in order to obtain information pertaining to collaboration, money or any issue relating to a crime.
  4. Agents may be used as witnesses when their testimony is of sufficient importance. Many do not know the importance and value of the information they deliver, they may fear or dislike appearing before police or other organs of justice.
  5. Agents are often used in cases of crimes involving public money which could not be committed by only one person. The task of the agent is to discover the identity of the other partners and the location of the funds they have stolen.
  6. Agents may be used in tracing missing and escaped suspects and convicts, by watching the movements of their friends and companions and the places they used to frequent.
  7. Agents may be used to watch and monitor dealers in stolen money. These are the most dangerous groups. Information about them usually leads to the detection of many offences relating to the stolen money they have received.
  8. Agents are also used in detecting drug traffickers and the means and methods they use. The agent could be the means of uncovering a band of traffickers by being given a sample and assuming a role in a purchase operation as a mediator and middleman.
  9. Agents are used to detect offences of corrupt officials and other professional irregularities harmful to the public interest.
  10. Agents are sometimes used to ascertain whether a crime has actually been committed, so that police efforts are not expended in vain. Defining the purpose helps to determine the means to be followed; for example, a missing person leads to suspicion of murder. Agents help by finding out who would benefit from the person's removal; this would help to refute or confirm the accusation.
  11. Agents are used to watch and monitor movements and activities of aliens and foreigners.
The uses of agents are innumerable, but the matter is one for the policeman to decide, according to the information required, the particular case, place, time and the outcomes.

The policeman, in his endeavour to maintain security, should allow the subject matter of the enquiry and other methods accompanying this to dictate his use of agents. He should not be so irrational as to pin all his hopes on agents and to confine himself to this method. His experience, efficiency in tracking down offenders and their activities, and other abilities will lead to successes that surpass those that might be achieved by agents in this field of crime prevention.
General Pitfalls when Using an Agent
1. The policeman's total confidence in the agent may lead the agent to make use of this to achieve his own goals and damage the process of enquiry.
2. The agent may misuse his relationship with the policeman in a manner damaging to security and harmful to the policeman's reputation.
3. Care should be taken in the case of an agent who penetrates security organs to convey information to other parties.
4. Agents should not be used to commit a crime for the sake of detection of another crime, or to entrap a group into committing a crime.
5. The policeman should keep to the golden rule: %t him know only, just as much as is needed-, lest the agent discover further secret information that he does not need to know.
6. The agent should not be allowed to actively participate in any procedural measure, such as arrests or searches, or any such measures the enquiry may necessitate.
7. The agent should not be allowed to establish any particular or private relationship with the policeman.
8. The agent should not be allowed to enter into other relationships of acquaintance or friendship through the policeman.
9. A desire on the part of the agent to show off his successes might lead him to instigate others to commit crimes so that he can trap them, after paving the way for the crime in order to confirm the information he has already provided to the policeman. Meanwhile he might have been an original partner in the crime, helping to plan it but refraining from executing it after making sure of the place and time of the crime.
10. The agent should not be allowed to obtain information from other agents by associating with them. This is the purpose of separating agents by district. This can be ascertained by keeping a watch on the agent.
11. Policeman should bear in mind that agents might sometimes, in order to achieve success, endanger their lives, by acting without having taken the necessary precautionary measures and having the necessary human and material support.
12. Competition between policemen working in similar fields might sometimes lead to unfair and dishonest practices and utilising the agents in this competition. This puts the whole operation in danger and also endangers the agents or lessens their protection. The agents, in turn, might embrace this unfair competition to settle accounts with each other and this might lead to agents being unwilling to co-operate with the police.
Dispensing with the Agent

Public benefit dictates keeping agents as a means of obtaining information. Yet sometimes using an agent may seriously harm security. In such a case the policeman might be induced to dispense with the agent.

We can summarise reasons for dispensing with the agent as follows:
1. If the agent becomes valueless as a secret source, after his identity is uncovered by those about whom he might provide information.
2. If the agent is discovered to be a double agent, providing the police with information about illegal acts and at the same time conveying police secrets to the offenders.
3. If the agent is found to be giving incomplete and unsatisfactory information, keeping some back for his own benefit.
4. If the agent is so keen to obtain material benefits (in money or in kind) that he frequently provides valueless information.
5. If he carries on illegal acts behind the front of the information he provides, believing that the police will turn a blind eye.
6. If he becomes a dangerous agent by incriminating others through false accusations.
7. If he practises blackmail on offenders and other people, intimidating them with the police authority that protects him, and himself enforcing the law against them.
8. If he is guilty of incompetence and negligence.
9. If the agent becomes unable to obtain the required information.
All these may be applicable to professional agents, but it is preferable to apply these general rules to all agents whenever the reasons for using them no longer exist.

Conclusion

Methods of crime prevention and detection are making great strides, not only keeping pace with but even surpassing the social, economic and political developments in a world that has become a global village enabling the easy and rapid transfer of cultures. All this has been matched by modern technologies in the criminal investigation field. Nevertheless, agents have proved to be valuable and necessary in various fields of crime prevention and detection. The recruitment and use of agents has proved to be both a science and an art. Its success is based on scientific and technical grounds, promoting the wise selection of an agent and his deployment in a manner that helps the police to exercise their duties competently and achieve the goal of maintaining overall security.

"But the Hoopoe strayed not far, then said: "I have obtained the knowledge of a thing that you have not obtained and I have come to you from Saba' (Sheba) with true news"⁴

Foot Notes

Surate al-Hujurat (Chapter no. 49 the Private Apartment), verse no. 6
Ibid, verse no. 12
Hadith of Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him)
Sourate An-Nami (the antes), verse no. 22