BOSTON -- A training tape made nearly two decades ago shows retired FBI Agent John Connolly advising new agents against doing what he has been accused of doing: getting too close to informants.

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NewsCenter 5's David Boeri reported that the training video recorded in 1983 was shown to the jury Tuesday in Connolly's racketeering and obstruction of justice trial. In the video, Connolly is portrayed as a by-the-book agent.

"We expect them to be criminals," Connolly said in the video. "I don't think we can ever lose sight of who we are and who we're working for."

Connolly has been accused of taking bribes and tipping off mobsters to the identity of informants who were then murdered. The government alleges that Connolly warned mobster James "Whitey" Bulger that he was going to be indicted, prompting Bulger to flee.

"One of the crucial areas is information that he could potentially give you involving himself in a crime," Connolly said in the tape. "The guidelines tell us that we have to make a report up on that. That has to be given to the proper authorities."

Prosecutors said that Connolly was not following his own advice and failed to report numerous violent crimes. Connolly has stated that he was not fully aware of how criminal his informants Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi were.

"You should be in the drivers seat with these people," Connolly said in the video. "They're either going to rule you, or you're going to rule them, and if they're ruling you, you're wasting your time and the bureau's time, and it could put you and the bureau in a very melancholy situation."

At another point in the training film, Connolly recommends that agents always use pay phones for security. The prosecution has based much of its case on phone records taken from Connolly's office and home phones that show he made numerous calls to mobsters and to the FBI agent he was allegedly pumping for a tip on the coming indictment.