ABOUT INSIDE DATELINE

Inside Dateline is your Web line into Studio 3B, providing you with a personal behind-the-scenes look at how we bring you our stories.

Whether it's a gripping crime tale, a hidden camera investigation, or a celebrity newsmaker profile -- Dateline correspondents and producers spend days, months, and sometimes even years researching and reporting the story. Learn more about what goes on inside our investigations, and find out more about some of the people we've met.

Ann Curry hosts Dateline. Dateline's producers, correspondents and host post here often. Previews to upcoming stories, more information on our reports, and follow-ups can be found on this blog.



Making informants' safety a priority: A Dateline update

Posted: Friday, June 19, 2009 4:46 PM by Elizabeth Chuck

In January, Dateline NBC ran a report on Rachel Hoffman, a 23-year-old middle-class college grad who, after getting caught with marijuana for a second time, became a confidential informant for the Tallahassee, Fla. police department to avoid charges that could land her behind bars. Her story ended in tragedy: Police sent Hoffman out on a secret drug sting, and she was shot to death. Her parents, heartbroken, demanded to know where the officers who swore to protect her were at the time of the shooting. They got no answers.

On May 7, 2009, the one-year anniversary of Hoffman's death, Gov. Charlie Crist, R-Fla., signed Rachel's Law, which requires law enforcement to make safety the highest priority when conducting operations involving the use of confidential informants, and to have policies and procedures that consider a person's age and maturity and the potential of physical harm before having someone become a confidential informant.

To watch the full Dateline hour on Hoffman's case, "Deadly Dealing," click below:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

See a blog post by Dateline NBC's Chris Hansen on the case here.
 
Hear friends and family recall favorite memories of Hoffman in a web-exclusive video here.

MAIN PAGE

Email this EMAIL THIS

Comments

What a very sad story. There are much more high level criminals to go after than someone selling pot. Marajuana is not a gateway drug and to think that this poor girl's life was lost because of this is sickening! Alcohol is much worse than than marajuana. I have never done drugs nor do I intend to. However, I do think marajuana should be legalized. Unfortunately, as long as the drug companies keep lobbying to keep it illegal, this will never change.

Amy G (Sent Monday, June 22, 2009 3:35 PM)



SEND A COMMENT

PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to the blog, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):

Your name, city and state (John Doe, Seattle, Wash.): 

 Your e-mail address (jdoe@msnbc.com):

Your website (it's okay if you don't have one):

Remember me? (We'll keep it private)

TRACKBACKS

Trackbacks are links to weblogs that reference this post. Like comments, trackbacks do not appear until approved by us. The trackback URL for this post is: http://insidedateline.msnbc.msn.com/trackback.aspx?PostID=1971849