Snitch City

Part 1:
A rogue cop and a 'drug rip'Part 2:
The police chiefPart 3:
An informant and a betrayalPodcast:
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Snitch City
Snitch City

Snitch City

In a nation addicted to drugs, local police are addicted to informants. This new Spotlight series begins in an American city that, like so many others, is enmeshed in the war on drugs. Here, police have been empowered to use confidential informants to take down dealers by almost any means necessary. They have invented CIs, had sex with informants, and used them to settle scores, protect drug dealers, and break the law.

Read the series

Part 1

A rogue cop, a mystery snitch, and a ‘drug rip.’ How ‘Officer Pills’ exploited policing’s informant system.

In a vacuum of scrutiny around confidential informants, police misconduct and corruption have been allowed to fester.

A rogue cop and a 'drug rip'

Part 2

The FBI investigated him for stealing from drug dealers and misusing informants. Now he’s the police chief.

No one is more familiar with the inner workings of the New Bedford Police Department than Paul Oliveira. And he's often turned a blind eye to problems, a Spotlight investigation found.

The police chief

Part 3

'Whatever they said, I would do it’: Inside the shrinking world of one confidential informant

New Bedford police have perverted the confidential informant system in countless ways, the Spotlight Team has found.

An informant and a betrayal

Listen to the podcast

Episode 1: Officer Pastillas

Episode 2: Blind Trust

Episode 3: The Chief

Episode 4: Cops & Robbers

Episode 5: The Fallout

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About Snitch City

How we reported this story

This series is based on interviews with more than 100 people from all corners of the criminal justice system, including informants themselves.

How we reported this story

Findings

See the Spotlight Team’s findings from its investigation into the confidential informant system

Local lapses mirror a pattern of informant abuse across the country, Spotlight found, where nearly every aspect of the confidential informant system is shielded from the public.

See the Spotlight Team’s findings from its investigation into the confidential informant system

Internal affairs records

After taking office, New Bedford’s police chief quickly purged police disciplinary files

Less than three months after he became chief of the New Bedford Police Department, Paul Oliveira destroyed 25 years of internal affairs files.

After taking office, New Bedford’s police chief quickly purged police disciplinary files

Follow-up

New Bedford mayor pushes back on Spotlight report on police abuses, seeks FBI review

Mayor Jon Mitchell pushed back on the Spotlight Team report, saying it painted a picture of the department that was “materially incomplete” and relied on accounts of criminals and “others of dubious credibility.”

New Bedford mayor pushes back on Spotlight report on police abuses, seeks FBI review

Findings

Eight key takeaways from Spotlight’s Snitch City investigation

The Globe Spotlight Team’s latest investigation uncovered widespread misconduct in how police across Massachusetts use — and exploit — confidential informants to fight the war on drugs.

Eight key takeaways from Spotlight’s Snitch City investigation
Credits
  • Reporters: Dugan Arnett, Andrew Ryan
  • Editors: Brendan McCarthy, Gordon Russell, Mark Morrow, Kristin Nelson
  • Design: Ryan Huddle
  • Development: Kirkland An
  • Illustrations: J.D. Paulsen for the Boston Globe
  • Photographer: Lane Turner
  • Digital editor: Christina Prignano
  • Visuals editor: Tim Rasmussen
  • Director of photography: Bill Greene
  • Photo editor: Leanne Burden Seidel
  • Audience: Cecilia Mazanec, Ronke Idowu Reeves, Adria Watson, Diamond Naga Siu, Amanda Kaufman
  • Audience editor: Heather Ciras
  • Copy editor: Michael J. Bailey
  • Legal review: Jon Albano
  • Quality assurance: Nalini Dokula

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