Legal Definitions - informal probate

An informant is an individual who provides information about another person, often confidentially, to law enforcement or other authorities. This information typically pertains to criminal activity, wrongdoing, or other matters of public interest. Informants may be motivated by various factors, such as receiving a reward, gaining leniency in their own legal matters, or simply a desire to assist in upholding the law.

Here are some examples illustrating the role of an informant:

• Imagine a situation where a person arrested for a minor offense, like shoplifting, offers to tell the police about a larger, organized crime ring they know about, hoping for a lighter sentence or to have their charges dropped. In this scenario, the individual acts as an informant by providing confidential details about criminal activity to the authorities, motivated by the prospect of receiving special treatment in their own case.

• Consider a neighbor who witnesses a suspicious individual attempting to break into a car on their street. Without expecting any reward or special consideration, they immediately call the police, providing a detailed description of the suspect and the vehicle. This person is acting as a citizen-informant, volunteering information to law enforcement purely out of a sense of civic duty and concern for public safety.

• Suppose an employee discovers that their company is engaging in a scheme to defraud customers and anonymously reports this illegal activity to a federal regulatory agency. Although often referred to as a whistleblower, in this context, the employee functions as an informant by confidentially supplying information about corporate wrongdoing to an official authority, which could lead to an investigation and legal action against the company.