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Penalties Uneven for Data MisuseSome cops are sanctioned severely, some not at all
By M. L. Elrick Part 2 of 2 Michigan's system for disciplining officers who abuse the confidential Law Enforcement Information Network is flawed, meting out unequal justice for violators and victims alike. Overseeing the system is a committee virtually powerless to punish those who have used the system's database of addresses, criminal records, license plate numbers and driving records to seek romance, revenge or an upper hand in personal, legal or political conflicts. Instead, it must rely on individual departments to deal with their own -- and the punishments they hand down vary widely. A Free Press review of more than 90 cases of LEIN abuse during the past five years reveals that the system is vulnerable to misuse and that there are wide disparities in how local, state and federal departments deal with those who abused it. The LEIN is a state law-enforcement database that contains personal information, including addresses, driving records and criminal records. Because LEIN machines are often left on and users are not assigned individual passwords to access the system, investigators frequently have trouble proving who violated the system. Even when investigators identify abusers, punishment varies widely. Consider these cases:
LEIN users are required to attend at least one day of training, which explains how the system works and how each transaction is tracked by the user's name. The training emphasizes one point above all: The system must only be used for legitimate police work. Nevertheless some officers abuse the system, making inquiries under another person's name or falsifying the purpose of their query to cover their tracks, according to state records of suspected LEIN violations. People whose privacy was violated by officers wrongfully using LEIN can file complaints with the Criminal Justice Information Systems Policy Council, a group of prosecutors, police executives, judges and Michigan Secretary of State's Office officials. But the council is essentially powerless to impose discipline. Law enforcement agencies that tap into the LEIN agree to abide by its rules or face revocation of their privileges. But the council is reluctant to levy such a serious penalty -- the only one available to it. "That's something that nobody wants to see happen because law enforcement officers out in the field are going to be harmed," said Clinton County Prosecutor Charles Sherman, who chairs the council's committee that reviews allegations of LEIN abuse. So the council relies on its ability to persuade local police departments to investigate and punish their own. Concerned that violators were escaping punishment, a state senator three years ago authored a law making it a crime to misuse the LEIN. Still, of the approximately three dozen police officers who misused the system since July 1998, only three have faced prosecution. Most avoided criminal charges because prosecutors have interpreted the law to say that sharing LEIN information is a misdemeanor only when it is shared outside law enforcement. "You could have a police officer gaining information and using it to stalk somebody, but they haven't committed a misdemeanor because they're using it themselves," Sherman said. State Sen. Chris Dingell, D-Trenton, a lawyer who wrote the law, said tapping into the network for personal reasons is enough for prosecution. To close any loopholes, Eaton County Prosecutor Jeff Sauter, a member of the LEIN policy council, said the council is drafting new legislation. "One of the proposals is to expand the criminal penalty to unlawful access, use or dissemination," he said. "In other words, to cover the gamut." But the public has limited ability to find out about violators. After reviewing an incident, the council shreds its records. Sherman said the shredding policy is a compromise between the council, which wants details on alleged abuses, and some police officials, who object to providing detailed reports. With prosecution difficult, the council also refers instances of LEIN abuse to the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, which can decertify police officers. So far, none has been sanctioned. So police chiefs impose discipline based on factors such as an officer's work record, the circumstances that led to the offense and local union rules. But that system allows some violators to escape punishment. State Police Sgt. Diane Oppenheim said she gave the Detroit Police Department the name of an employee suspected of using LEIN to help Warren City Councilman Mike Wiecek allegedly harass a political foe in August 1999. But, according to LEIN policy council minutes, the department took no disciplinary action. Wiecek, a former Detroit police officer, told the Free Press he did not ask anyone to run a LEIN check. Wiecek said he was wrongly accused of stalking by the boyfriend of Jennifer Faunce, his opponent in a state House primary. Oppenheim's investigation determined that a LEIN check had been run on Faunce's boyfriend by a specific Detroit police employee. But Detroit police told state officials they could not identify the employee who did the check. "It was kind of a joke when they had someone from DPD investigating one of their own," Oppenheim said. "It just doesn't seem kosher to me." Dingell, the state senator, said he does not have much confidence in any department scrutinizing its own officers. "The American system of government never trusts a body to investigate itself," he said. Sherman said that without more staff to investigate alleged abuses, the LEIN policy council must rely on local departments. "We just have to trust that they have the integrity to look into a matter like that and they're not going to want to have an officer doing things that are in violation of the law," he said. Some departments take a hard line on LEIN violations. For allegedly obtaining a stripper's address for a friend in 1997, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Duncan was forced to quit his job and agree not to apply for any other federal law enforcement jobs. He also agreed to do 40 hours of community service. Duncan said he was duped into running the license plate for a friend who often passed along the license plate numbers of possible illegal aliens. Duncan said he was angry when when he found out the friend's real purpose, and told him, "I'm not running down your girlfriends for you." Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn Helland, who prosecuted Duncan, said LEIN abusers must pay for violating the public's trust. "We're concerned with public confidence that when the government does have access to a lot of information, it's going to use the information responsibly," he said. "By bringing a prosecution, we want to make clear to the public and law enforcement itself that this is a sacred trust and we need to be accountable for that trust." Kathy Rector, executive director of the LEIN policy council, said individual passwords may soon be assigned to LEIN users to improve security by matching police to individual LEIN inquiries. Dingell said violators should be locked out of the system. Michigan lawmakers are expected to consider that proposal in the fall. In the meantime, some police departments are asking outside agencies to investigate possible LEIN violations. The Oscoda County Sheriff's Department recently turned to the Michigan Sheriff's Association Mission Team to investigate whether one of its deputies misused the LEIN. The team, which consists of investigators from sheriffs' departments throughout Michigan who volunteer their time, determined that the deputy abused the system. The man was disciplined and is no longer a deputy.
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