RACHEL'S LAW OFFERS PLENTY TO CONSIDER

My daughter, Rachel Hoffman, was a 23-year-old graduate of Florida
State University who gave her life working under cover for the
Tallahassee Police Department. The details of this event are still
being investigated. But my meeting next week with state Sen. Mike
Fasano about Rachel's Law concerns the process of becoming an
undercover informant and preventing another vulnerable person whose
judgment may be impaired or is under duress from being treated as
expendable, then murdered. Advertisement

Undercover informants are often addicted, young, frightened,
vulnerable people who are looking at the ruin of their life and the
threat of prosecution, and often they will do anything. Informants,
civilians working under cover, are not being treated as helpers of law
enforcement but as tools of law enforcement, tools of law enforcement
that may at times be treated as expendable.

These are the qualities of informants:

- - Already addicted or having difficulties with substance abuse and
self-control, which means that their mental thought process is already
impaired.

- - Desperate to clear their record and desperate to avoid any jail time
or pending charges, so these people are very vulnerable and easy to
persuade.

- - Often times they may have an immature/idealistic view of authority
figures that would put them in a position to think they are safe and
protected.

- - Never taught any law-enforcement skills, never trained to work at
this level of emotional intensity or qualified for this type of work.

- - Not trained to respond to or recognize unplanned dangers and
contingencies.

Because of these facts, precautions or laws need to be put into place.
There certainly need to be consequences and accountability for those
individuals charged with substance abuse or possession. However, the
actions to reduce the consequences need to correspond to the level of
their crime and never should include death.

These are questions to consider:

- - Should the client's attorney be notified or, if the client has no
legal representation, should the client be offered counsel with a
public defender, family member or mental-health professional to give
the client options or a second opinion to offer a more objective view
of the situation?

- - Should a mental-health professional screen the client to assess his
or her mental capacity and judgment before participating in this
potentially lethal situation? The clients should never be treated as
if they are expendable.

- - When knowing a gun is involved, never use a civilian. Civilians are
not trained in the use of firearms, and they are easy prey to
something going wrong.

- - How do we obtain information that protects the clients from the
felons they will be facing and better ensure their safety?

- - If the clients are involved in a drug diversion program, would it
not make sense to understand that their judgment is already impaired
and they would need advice from an attorney, mental-health
professional or family member while being offered the option and
making the decision of working under cover?

- - Should we not clearly define what the informants would receive for
putting their life on the line as informants, regardless of the
outcome? For example, in the case of my daughter, Rachel Hoffman, she
put her life on the line to clear her record, and upon her death her
record was exploited and made public versus being expunged, as
promised. Recently, another Florida parent shared with me the story of
their child agreeing to go under cover to expunge her record. The
police wired her and wanted a confession on tape, and when they did
not receive the confession on tape, she was placed right back into
jail without any regard for the risk she had taken, making a statement
that her risk and cooperation meant nothing. Again, she, as an
informant, was treated as expendable.

- - Should we not create an advocate program for informants that could
make sure that all the steps above are carried out before the
informants agree to enter into the process?

My View column by father of the late Rachel Hoffman