Brickbat: Silence Is Golden

For 10 years the
Durham, North Carolina, police department has been paying
criminal informants for their testimony without revealing
those payments to defense attorneys or, apparently, to prosecutors.
According to documents uncovered by the Southern Coalition for
Social Justice, some of the “bonuses” were apparently tied to
convictions. But Assistant Chief of Police Jon Peter denies the
department paid informants based on whether the person they
testified against was convicted. He says the officer who filled out
those expenditure reports simply used the wrong term and meant only
that the case had been disposed of.