What quality is needed from an informant?

What quality is needed from an informant?

• A. Justified suspicion.
• B. Reliable and credible.
• C. A sworn affidavit.
• D. A criminal record.

Answer: (B)

Trustworthiness drives the usefulness of information from an informant. The best quality is reliability and credibility. Reliability means the tips and details they provide tend to be accurate, timely, and verifiable, not one-off observations that can easily be wrong. Credibility means officers can believe what they’re being told because the informant has a history of honesty, careful recall, and lacks obvious motives to mislead. When an informant is reliable and credible, leads can be checked against other evidence, allowing investigators to pursue productive directions and avoid chasing false or misleading information. A sworn affidavit is a formal document, not a trait of the informant, and a criminal record can undermine trust unless there is strong corroborating evidence; just having a suspicious mindset doesn’t by itself establish trustworthiness.

Trustworthiness drives the usefulness of information from an informant. The best quality is reliability and credibility. Reliability means the tips and details they provide tend to be accurate, timely, and verifiable, not one-off observations that can easily be wrong. Credibility means officers can believe what they’re being told because the informant has a history of honesty, careful recall, and lacks obvious motives to mislead. When an informant is reliable and credible, leads can be checked against other evidence, allowing investigators to pursue productive directions and avoid chasing false or misleading information. A sworn affidavit is a formal document, not a trait of the informant, and a criminal record can undermine trust unless there is strong corroborating evidence; just having a suspicious mindset doesn’t by itself establish trustworthiness.