1   28 October, 2019
 2
 3The intelligence conundrum
 4
 5To protect an asset, or to protect the people?
 6
 7   I watched the latest [1]S.W.A.T.) episode a couple of days ago, and it
 8   highlighted some interesting issues that intelligence organizations
 9   face when working with law enforcement. Side note: it's a pretty good
10   show if you like police procedurals.
11
12The problem
13
14   Consider the following scenario:
15     * There's a local drug lord who's been recruited to provide intel, by
16       a certain 3-letter organization.
17     * Local PD busts his operation and proceed to arrest him.
18     * 3-letter org steps in, wants him released.
19
20   So here's the thing, his presence is a threat to public but at the same
21   time, he can be a valuable long term asset -- giving info on drug
22   inflow, exchanges and perhaps even actionable intel on bigger fish who
23   exist on top of the ladder. But he also seeks security. The 3-letter
24   org must provide him with protection, in case he's blown. And like in
25   our case, they'd have to step in if he gets arrested.
26
27   Herein lies the problem. How far should an intelligence organization go
28   to protect an asset? Who matters more, the people they've sworn to
29   protect, or the asset? Because afterall, in the bigger picture, local
30   PD and intel orgs are on the same side.
31
32   Thus, the question arises -- how can we measure the "usefulness" of an
33   asset to better quantify the tradeoff that is to be made? Is the intel
34   gained worth the loss of public safety? This question remains largely
35   unanswered, and is quite the predicament should you find yourself in
36   it.
37
38   This was a fairly short post, but an interesting problem to ponder
39   nonetheless.
40
41References
42
43   1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.W.A.T._(2017_TV_series