Data Misuse: Police (PCSO)

On Thursday 14th May 2008 PCSO, Police Community Support Office Glen Baker, aged 47, was convicted of accessing the Police National Computer for his own purposes.

Glenn Baker is pictured on the left of this photograph:

PCSO Glenn Baker, Pictured on the Left

This is another in a series of data misuses by the police, though the frequency of reported incidents tends to imply that people are getting caught more rather than committing the offense more.  Which is worse, its happening a lot now, or for years we had no idea it was happening a lot?

Data Misuse: Examples of Police Data Misuse

Below are examples of the police misusing data. While the list is, thankfully, small, two things must be remembered:

Firstly the list only contains examples of police misusing data AND getting caught AND being arrested/convicted AND it being reported AND it being based in the UK AND being listed on this site  – this is a is a very limiting Boolean statement.

Secondly, the intent is not to show that the police are 100% corrupt, or imply that they are all taking backhanders, the list merely shows that these incidents occur and that data is not 100% safe with any organization. People are faliable and make errors, both in data handling and in judgment.

Examples of Police Data Misuse in the UK

• In May 2009 a PCSO was convicted of misusing the Police National Computer
• In January 2009 the ex-Assistant Chief Constable of West Yorkshire police, Andy Brown was arrested for breach of the data protection act. Though this was a very minor case.
• In 2008 Police Officer Amerdeep Singh Johal was sentenced to 6 years in jail for blackmail by using the Police National Computer and Intelligence Database
• PC Robert Anderson from Central Scotland Police accessed the police database for his own purpose.
• A police officer used information to harass and intimidate an innocent woman
• A police officer accessed the criminal records database to  gain information about his partners’ family.
• In 2004 police were involved in illegal phone tapes.
• In 2002 a WPC used police databases to trace a woman she believed was having an affair with her husband
• In 2004  police worker, Leanne Thomas looked up the police records of her “friends”, on the Police National Computer (PNC).