In a controlled drug buy, do the cops have to have audio and video?

While police often use audio and video to record a controlled purchase of drugs, it is not a requirement. In a controlled buy, the police typically use an informant to set up a drug purchase. They may ask the informant for permission to record a telephone call with the seller setting up the transaction. In many states, recording of conversations is allowed without a wiretap order if one party consents to the call. Just before the transaction is scheduled to take place, police will often meet with the informant to search him or her for drugs and money. They may outfit the informant with a recording device. The informant then conducts the transaction. Usually, he or she will meet with police immediately after the deal to turn over the purchased drugs and any recording that was made. By recording events and searching the informant before the transaction, the prosecution builds a tighter case against the defendant charged with selling the drugs. However, since circumstantial evidence carries the same weight as direct evidence, it is possible for the prosecution to go to trial without audio or video and rely instead on the testimony of the informant (and possibly the police officer who directed his actions). It would then be up to the jury to decide if the informant, and/or police officer is a credible witnesses and whether they have been persuaded beyond a reasonable doubt that the sale took place.