Across US, Police Officers Abuse Confidential Databases (ap.org)

Sadie Gurman and Eric Tucker, reporting for Associated Press:Police officers across the country misuse confidential law enforcement databases to get information on romantic partners, business associates, neighbors, journalists and others for reasons that have nothing to do with daily police work, an Associated Press investigation has found. Criminal-history and driver databases give officers critical information about people they encounter on the job. But the AP's review shows how those systems also can be exploited by officers who, motivated by romantic quarrels, personal conflicts or voyeuristic curiosity, sidestep policies and sometimes the law by snooping. In the most egregious cases, officers have used information to stalk or harass, or have tampered with or sold records they obtained. No single agency tracks how often the abuse happens nationwide, and record-keeping inconsistencies make it impossible to know how many violations occur. But the AP, through records requests to state agencies and big-city police departments, found law enforcement officers and employees who misused databases were fired, suspended or resigned more than 325 times between 2013 and 2015. They received reprimands, counseling or lesser discipline in more than 250 instances, the review found.

Comments

Accountability

[rlp]

The databases in question hold information such as driver licenses, car registration, criminal histories,warrants, missing persons, etc. In Ohio the main law enforcement database is LEADS which also ties into national criminal justice databases, Access to LEADS is regularly AUDITED. People who misuse it are routinely prosecuted. These databases are very important to public safety. You can never prevent misuse, but you can hold users accountable for their use of the system.

Re:Wherever data is collected, it is abused

[HBI]

My older brother was killed when I was about 20. Sad times all around, he left behind two kids and it was a dumb accident with alcohol and drugs involved. Anyway, the same guy from the previous story was at the wake. In the line walking up to the casket, he was mouthing off to the other people paying respects, claiming that my father was responsible for his death and needed to own that. Which was ludicrous on its face, as my father was nowhere near where the accident happened, but hurtful at that kind of service. Inappropriate thing to say, and even if true shouldn't have been mentioned at that kind of service with his wife and kids around.

I remember drinking to vomit that night and crying my eyes out with my father wishing we could go around the corner and kill the motherfucker.

That was probably the worst one, but there are many more...