You see on TV that a guy’s a snitch, that’s what they call him. They portray him as a sniveling drug addict, and he’ll walk up and dime somebody out for five bucks. [The public] is watching this and saying, “This guy is nothing but a rat. He’s a rat.” That is not the way to talk about an informant. That’s not a way to treat an informant. That’s not my experience. If you want somebody to help you, somebody who is on the inside because we’re all on the outside, you’ve got to be genuine with him. You’ve got to protect him to [encourage] him to want to do it.
Certainly not as titillating as TV and film want us to believe, but certainly seems more common sense and effective.
