Resumo

FONDEVILA, Gustavo Javier. Gestión y administración del sistema de informantes policiales en México. Sociológica (Méx.) [online]. 2010, vol.25, n.72, pp.111-137. ISSN 2007-8358.

One of the most important issues involved in any police force's criminal intelligence is how it manages it. This article analyzes the different forms of administration of police informants used by Mexico's Judicial Police. Using mixed methodologies (bibliographical analysis, interviews, and ethnography), it develops a typology of administration that is both informal (personal and impersonal) and formal (impersonal), determined by three variables: type of contact, personal traits, and criminal milieu. It concludes that the ideal way of administering an informant network is through a police and judicial institutional mechanism subject to regulation by the legislative branch and monitored by the Congress's Public Security Commission or a similar body.

Palavras-chave : police informants; information control; contact; personal traits; criminal milieu.