Keeping our wits about us: introducing a bespoke informant interview model for covert human intelligence source (CHIS) interactions

ABSTRACT The covert use of civilian informants leaves law enforcement agencies open to accusations of unethical conduct. The use of a structured interview protocol is a recognised method of promoting ethical interactions between police and public citizens, however, there is no known interview model specifically designed to meet informant handler objectives. The current study adopts a holistic view of the interaction between ‘informant’ and ‘handler’ to develop a bespoke informant interview model (RWITS-US: Review and Research, Welfare, Information, Tasking, Security, Understanding Context, Sharing). This model is compared to the PEACE model of interviewing as part of a novel experimental paradigm using mock-informants (N = 19), measuring levels of motivation, rapport, cooperation and intelligence gain. Results indicate that the RWITS-US model generated significantly greater levels of self-reported rapport without having any detrimental effect on the other measured variables. Whilst the results are encouraging, we suggest that the RWITS-US model should be tested in handler training environments before being recommended for widespread use in the field.