"Drug law enforcement in the United States has grown highly dependent upon the wholesale use of confidential informants (CIs), who are frequently lawbreakers in their own right. Driven by skewed police performance metrics and draconian sentencing policies, and corrupted through perverse incentives coupled with nonexistent oversight, the informant system as operated is antithetical to basic fairness, the proper administration of the justice system, and truly effective law enforcement. The pervasive abuse of the informant system, often by federally funded drug task forces, has had tragic implications for individuals and communities nationwide. Disproportionately targeted by drug law enforcement efforts, African American communities have, unsurprisingly, borne the brunt of this injustice."

Source

Greene, Judith and Allard, Patricia, "Numbers Game: The Vicious Cycle of Incarceration in Mississippi’s Criminal Justice System," American Civil Liberties Union (New York, NY: March 2011), p. 35.
https://www.aclu.org/files/as…