How often do cops access databases for wrong purpose? It happened hundreds of times in two years
Police officers accessed confidential databases for improper purposes hundreds of times over a two-year period, according to an Associated Press investigation.
No agency keeps track of such abuses, the Associated Press reports. The wire service sought to gather the information through public records requests to state agencies and police departments in large cities.
The findings, from 2013 to 2015: Police officers and public employees who misused databases resigned or were fired or suspended more than 325 times. In 250 instances, employees received reprimands, counseling or lesser discipline for database misuse. The tally is “unquestionably an undercount,” the article says.
The databases searched included information on driver’s licenses, vehicle registration information and criminal history. Officers searched the databases for information on romantic partners, business associates, neighbors, journalists, celebrities and politicians.
In some cases, police officers used the information to stalk people or to ask them for dates; to conduct criminal records checks for their own private businesses; and to investigate journalists or politicians viewed as antagonistic to police departments.
Prosecutions are rare, though one New York City officer, Ronald Buell, was sentenced to probation for selling the information before his retirement to a private investigator for defense lawyers. The New York Times reported on his guilty plea to conspiracy in February.
