Snitches get Witness Protection
April 27, 2017 9:21 PM   Subscribe

What happens when you enter Witness Protection? -- 12 facts about witness protection -- A top heroin dealer in 2007 -- Longform magazine piece about leaving a life behind in 1996 -- witness protection in the UK
posted by Eyebrows McGee (8 comments total) 19 users marked this as a favorite
 
Everything is Stories just finished a 3 part podcast on one family in WitSec.
posted by dobbs at 9:28 PM on April 27, 2017 [2 favorites]


I would love to read an interview with their witness protection inspector, the "combination social worker, religious worker, doctor, banker and bodyguard." What a fascinatingly diverse set of skills. I bet he has some good stories.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:51 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


A fun witness protection fact is that quite a few people in the program end up being placed in Point Roberts, WA, which you have to cross the Canadian border to get to. Turns out it's harder to get into Canada if you have a criminal record than it is to evade a restraining order against you.
posted by Space Coyote at 12:59 AM on April 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


I find the use of 'whistleblower' in the 12 facts story inappropriate. Pretty much all of these people are criminals who plea-bargained their way out of prison sentences, not people acting out of conscience.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:31 AM on April 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


So, what they're saying is I'd have to get a new MeFi name?
posted by theora55 at 6:01 AM on April 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


In WITSEC, one inspector for the Witness Protection Program recalls working with a former motorcycle gang member who murdered a woman and then “cut her open and put charcoal inside her to use as a grill.”

Just... WOW. o_O

The theme to Mister Roger's Neighborhood has never seemed sinister to me, until now. YIKES.
posted by Amor Bellator at 7:04 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


At which point do you get the 'Witness Protection Program' t-shirt and hat?
posted by GallonOfAlan at 9:14 AM on April 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


I was quite satisfied with the NYT article. It answered so many questions I've had ever since I saw Goodfellas. Loved the level of detail, but how heartbreaking to have to literally say goodbye to your father forever.
posted by honey badger at 3:24 PM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


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