43A-Vice Drugs and Organized Crime 2019

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Policy & Procedure Page 1 of 7 Lexington Police Department Subject: Vice, Drugs & Organized Crime Policy Number: 43A Accreditation Standards: Reference: 41.1.1; 43.1.2 Effective Date: 10/1/11  New  Revised Revision Dates: 1/24/19 By Order of: Mark J. Corr, Chief of Police The Municipal Police Institute, Inc. (MPI) is a private, nonprofit charitable affiliate of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association. MPI provides training and model policies and procedures for police agencies. This policy is an edited version of MPI Policy 2.03, “Vice, Drugs and Organized Crime.” GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS AND GUIDELINES The complexities of modern police service and the sophisticated methods of modern criminals often demand a specialized police response depending upon the problems and concerns of the particular community. Police sometimes rely on confidential informants, some who are known to be of dubious character and questionable motives. As a result, officers are assigned as undercover agents to oversee these informants and help guide an investigation (See Departmental policy entitled 42G - Use of Confidential Informants). Police undercover agents are officers that have undergone additional training and possess many important traits, characteristics and aptitude that allow them to confidentially solicit, collect and report criminal information pertaining to organized crime, vice or drug crimes. Undercover work requires intelligence which is a process that gathers criminal facts, figures, numbers and habits and transforms them into useful information for police purposes. If called upon to work undercover, the primary task is to gather criminal information, and not to personally apprehend criminal offenders. The police undercover agent must concentrate on the investigation being conducted by the Lexington Police Department. Contact with agents from any other state, federal, or local law enforcement agency during the course of the undercover assignment must be reported and coordinated through the investigation commander. Police undercover agents must be more concerned with overall criminal involvement than with individual criminal acts. The sensitive nature of their assignments requires that undercover agents report directly to the Chief of Police or a supervisory officer designated by the Chief. The Chief may prefer that their reports be made orally, rather than in writing as a necessary safeguard. Any written reports of undercover agents should be securely and confidentially filed under the direct control of the Chief.