An inquiry into police conduct has started after an alleged informant was shot in Bedford, hours after his picture was posted on Facebook.
Domenico Masciopinto was injured on 15 January after his photo was circulated on the social networking site.
Mr Masciopinto contacted Bedfordshire Police earlier on the day he was shot to express concerns for his safety.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is looking at how the information was handled.
The message on Facebook alleged Mr Masciopinto had been a police informant since 2009.
'Registered informer'
An investigation has since begun into how officers responded to the information from Mr Masciopinto, who is still receiving hospital treatment for serious injuries.
A separate inquiry has been conducted by Bedfordshire Police into how the information got onto Facebook.
A spokeswoman for Bedfordshire Police said: "We are aware that there had been a posting on a third party's Facebook page, suggesting the victim of a recent shooting in Bedford was a police informant.
"An image has been circulated on Facebook which has had text added to it by a third party to make it appear as if the person is a registered informant.
"The posting appears to be an image of a page from the police custody system, which is not accessible to outside sources.
"This particular data system is not used by the police for recording any information at all on registered informants."
The spokeswoman said the investigation team were trying to establish if the posting and the shooting were connected.
"Information about registered informants is kept in a secure system with full access limited to specialist intelligence officers," she added.
Jonpaul Pasqualone, 27, a member of civilian staff at Bedfordshire Police, has been charged with being the holder of a public office and wilfully neglecting to perform his duty/wilfully misconducting himself.
The offence is said to have taken place between 1 July 2010, and 13 January, this year.
