ORLANDO, Fla. — Curiosity that crosses the line: 9 Investigates found nearly 500 cops in Florida have misused law enforcement databases since 2014.
Channel 9's Daralene Jones found out a former deputy was sued for looking up 42,000 people. Some now fear for their safety and worry about identity theft.
Now 9 Investigates finds out why officers rarely face significant punishments for breaking the law. Jones asked police officials why it’s so hard to charge officers who are abusing the system.
Watch that story Thursday on Eyewitness News at 5:30 pm.
9 Investigates uncovered widespread misuse of law enforcement databases meant only to aid in an investigation.
Tens of thousands of officers have access to these systems, and Channel 9's Daralene Jones found most are accessing the system out of curiosity, and some cases leading to allegations of harassment, sexual battery and lawsuits.
Former Marion County Deputy Clayton Thomas had a 26-year career in law enforcement. According to a civil lawsuit obtained by 9 Investigates, Thomas used the Driver and Vehicle Information Database (DAVID) to access confidential personal information of at least 42,000 people over three years for no legitimate law enforcement purpose.
A woman who said Thomas accessed her information and filed the civil lawsuit didn’t want to be identified, fearing retaliation, but her husband told Eyewitness News that she now lives in fear, questioning what happened to her private information.
Marnie Theodoropoulos has also filed a lawsuit against the Seminole, Orange and Brevard County sheriff's offices for similar behavior.
“I feel very unsafe,” Theodoropoulos said.
She claimed deputies from all three agencies accessed her private information 17 times during a bitter divorce. Her husband has friends in law enforcement, so she believes they were only after one thing.
“Anything that would paint me in a negative light,” Theodoropoulos said.
The DAVID database, along with federal and state crime information centers, contain some people's address, photos, emergency contact information, date of birth and social security number.
Misuse happens, not just in Central Florida, but throughout the state. Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey told Eyewitness News that the systems cannot be used to find dates, dig up information for family members or anything else other than legitimate law enforcement purposes.
“Being able to verify somebody's vehicle registration, their driver’s license information. The tool when used properly is vital for us,” Ivey told Jones.
An email request to the Florida Department of Highway Safety found nearly 500 law enforcement officers from the last two years were caught misusing federal and state tools meant to aid in a criminal or traffic investigations.
“Some is curiosity,” Oviedo Police Chief Jeffery Chudnow told Eyewitness News.
Tens of thousands of law enforcement officers have access to DAVID, Federal Citizen Information Center and National Crime Information Center databases. 9 Investigates found a majority are using them for legitimate purposes, but 9 Investigates spent hours reading internal affairs reports detailing violations within Central Florida agencies, and some of that curiosity turned into major offenses.
“It's obviously very concerning,” said Lt. Ryan Robbins, of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
Former Sanford Officer James Blake helped a woman with a disabled vehicle, cleared the call and found her home address through DAVID, according to an investigative report. She later accused him of sexual battery. He was never charged with a crime and resigned from his position within the department.
Altamonte Springs Offficer Kristoffor Tomich is still on the force even though he was accused of trying to engage in a relationship with another officer's sister who refused his advances, according to an internal affairs report.
A former Casselberry police officer searched women who worked at strip clubs, 9 Investigates learned. Oviedo police Officer Dwayne Walker resigned during an investigation alleging he searched for a bank teller he flirted with, tracked her using the database and followed her after her shift, according to an investigative report obtained by 9 Investigates.
The Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle Division oversees the system and sent an email regarding 9 Investigates investigation.
“Yes, it is a violation of state law as the state law coincides with the federal laws and guidelines. Also, there are over 600 government entities who may have access to DAVID, and those entities can allow employees who are eligible or need DAVID access to be able to. They do not have to just be law enforcement officers just part of a government agencies not a private company,” wrote Jeffrey Bissainthe, with the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle Division.
9 Investigates asked Ivey why it’s so hard to charge law enforcement officers who are caught misusing the system since it’s a violation of the law. A majority of the cases 9 Investigates reviewed showed officers were typically suspended for a short time or received a written or oral reprimand.
“You have to be able to show they had intent to misuse it,” Ivey said. “We're going to look at how many times they accessed it. We're going to look at what they say they accessed it for.”
The state has acknowledged the problem. The state has increased the penalty for misusing law enforcement databases to $1,000. Officers now have to provide a reason for their search and perform annual audits, signing the user agreements with the state. In Marion County, the sheriff’s office performs quarterly audits.
If someone wants to find out if their information has been wrongly accessed through the DAVID database, a public records request must be filed at:
Division of Motorist Services
Bureau of Records, D.A.V.I.D Audits
2900 Apalachee Parkway
MS78 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0500
Phone 850-617-2660 Fax 850-617-3926
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