# Confidential informants in jails

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confidential-informants-in-jails/816392>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 19, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confidential-informants-in-jails/816392 "2018-06-19T18:11:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confidential-informants-in-jails/816392/1 "2018-06-19T18:11:01Z")

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A person is accused of planning to have a judge killed.  
From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:

“Jenkins was in the Benton County Jail when she asked a fellow inmate, who was a confidential informant, if she knew someone who would “take out a judge,” according to an affidavit filed in the case.”

I wonder how many confidential informants there are in jails, and if they are recruited or volunteer.

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**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confidential-informants-in-jails/816392/2 "2018-06-19T19:29:11Z")

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It’s getting so you just can’t trust anybody nowadays.

> [@](#):
>
> Jenkins was in the Benton County Jail when she asked a fellow inmate, who was a confidential informant, if she knew someone who would “take out a judge,” according to an affidavit filed in the case.

You can tell which ones are the confidential informants, because they are the ones who say “Sure I do” and not “if I knew that, I wouldn’t be sitting in fucking jail right next to you, you idiot”.

Regards,  
Shodan

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confidential-informants-in-jails/816392/3 "2018-06-19T19:40:50Z")

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Not a center for criminal masterminds, certainly.

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**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confidential-informants-in-jails/816392/4 "2018-06-19T21:43:18Z")

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Many people in jail, become confidential informants after hearing incriminating evidence against others. They then use this information to get something in return, like time off their sentence, better privileges in jail, etc.

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**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confidential-informants-in-jails/816392/5 "2018-06-19T22:05:17Z")

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> [@Omar\_Little](#):
>
> Many people in jail, become confidential informants after hearing incriminating evidence against others. They then use this information to get something in return, like time off their sentence, better privileges in jail, etc.

This. The government doesn’t need to recruit people for this, they have a large group of people who are desperate to spend as little time in prison as possible and who the government has leverage over in terms of plea deals and whatnot.