Young informant commits suicide
A significant problem that has not yet received sufficient attention: protecting young and vulnerable informants. This story in the Missoulian is about how police handled Colton Peterson, a suicidal 21-year-old who was working for them as a drug informant: "Family believes son's suicide partly caused by law enforcement's conscription as an informant." The story raises some of the same issues that caused Florida to pass "Rachel's law" after 23-year-old Rachel Hoffman was killed while working as an informant. See these previous posts: "Florida's 'Rachel's Law' offers some protection for informants" and "Recruiting new informants." Under Florida's new law, police must now consider certain minimum factors before recruiting a person as an informant, including the person's "age and maturity," and "whether the person has shown any indication of emotional instability." My deepest condolences to Colton's parents, Juliena Darling and Frank Peterson.
Comments
My heart is breaking for Colton's parents. There is NO DOUBT that Colton's girlfriend's accounts are accurate. I'm sure he was pressured and terrified! My son was a high school student when he was recruited to work as an informant. The police pressured him the same way insisting that he bring them "drug traffickers"...the problem was that he was just a kid and honestly didn't know any traffickers...frustrated, they "fired" him for not "cooperating" and sent him to state prison. My entire family has been traumatized and I wonder if our lives can ever be the same. This story is tragic!!This MUST stop before another child loses their life!!!!