Managing Human Sources: identification and management of motivation

Human Source management is a critical function of intelligence and evidence collection by law enforcement and intelligence agencies across the world. Understanding the motivations of Human Sources is key to gaining high intelligence yields. Yet research which explores Human Source motivation, from a handler’s perspective, is limited. Even more limited is research which considers how motivation is identified and managed by law enforcement agencies across the course of a Human Source’s engagement with an agency. This research explores the experiences and perceptions of Human Source handlers from two Australian law enforcement agencies via semi-structured interviews (N = 17). Handlers highlighted the critical importance of identifying and understanding Human Source motivation. Handlers described a motivational cycle and deployed numerous strategies such as a conversational ‘life story’ approach and rapport building to elicit, assess and manage Human Source motivation over time. Factors such as life events resulted in changes to Human Source motivation requiring reassessment and management by the handler. Findings highlighted the importance of continuous assessment of Human Source motivation, intrusive supervision and psychological-based training to develop Human Source management expertise.