ABSTRACT

This paper offers a new perspective on the policing of football fans by exploring the recruitment and use of ‘informants’, or ‘Covert Human Intelligence Sources’ (CHIS), in this area of police practice. Drawing upon semi-structured interviews with both football fans and police officers in Scotland we foreground fan experiences against a backdrop where intensive police surveillance has become a routine feature of football events. In particular, our research uniquely provides accounts of fans whom the police sought to recruit as informants, a process known colloquially in policing as being ‘pitched’. In doing so we highlight the impact this tactic has on football fans, both individually and collectively. In understanding police perspectives, we note how the use of informants in football policing is frequently justified as a ‘legitimate’ means to provide intelligence to prevent violence and disorder amongst fans. Cautioning upon the dangers of further ‘surveillance creep’, we highlight that the use of informants in the policing of football fans and events raises both practical and ethical issues. In particular, we argue that the use of informants in the covert policing of football fans, if this tactic is to be used, must be grounded in a clearly articulated threat of violence and disorder that is accepted by football fans and the wider community. In the absence of this, the use of such tactics is likely to be considered unnecessary and disproportionate by football fans, feeding a wider narrative of criminalisation and a perception of illegitimate and disproportionate forms of policing.

摘要

本文通过探索在警察实践领域中招募和使用“线人”或“隐蔽的人类情报来源”（CHIS），为足球迷的治安提供了新的视角。通过对苏格兰足球迷和警察的半结构化采访，我们在警察严密监视已成为足球赛事常规特征的背景下，将球迷的经历推向了前台。特别是，我们的研究独特地提供了警方试图招募为线人的粉丝的描述，这一过程在警务中通俗地称为“投球”。在这样做时，我们强调了这种策略对足球迷的个人和集体影响。在了解警察的观点时，我们注意到在足球警务中使用线人如何经常被证明是提供情报以防止球迷之间的暴力和骚乱的“合法”手段。警告进一步“监视蔓延”的危险，我们强调在足球迷和事件的监管中使用线人会引发实际和道德问题。特别是，我们认为，如果要使用这种策略，在对足球迷的秘密警务中使用线人，必须以足球迷和更广泛社区所接受的明确表达的暴力和混乱威胁为基础。在没有这一点的情况下，足球迷可能会认为使用此类策略是不必要的和不成比例的，从而助长了更广泛的刑事定罪以及对非法和不成比例的警务形式的看法。