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19 Derbyshire police workers caught abusing force files
From: Erica Absetz <erica () riskbasedsecurity com>
Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2013 09:54:08 -0400
http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/Senior-officer-says-breaches-tolerated-figures/story-18577476-detail/story.html NINETEEN members of staff at Derbyshire police have breached data protection rules in the last three years by accessing information they were not allowed to see. One officer searched the force database to find information logged about his relationship with an illegal immigrant. He resigned before misconduct proceedings could take place. An inspector was dismissed after he searched the force computer system and accessed information on an "associate" for a purpose other than policing. Other breaches included a PC looking up information on family members, a staff member searching confidential data relating to an incident they were involved in outside work and a PCSO checking the Police National Computer for details about two vehicles and passing this on to a member of the public. Cheap Home Insurance with Free Household Legal Expenses- Call... Insure365 View details Print voucher Only one member of staff was prosecuted and convicted of criminal offences. PC Jasbir Dhanda was jailed for two-and-a-half years for having sex with a prostitute while on duty, as well as searching for personal information about women on the police database. Dhanda, who had been suspended from the force when the investigation into the allegations began, resigned immediately after his conviction in January 2012. The figures were released by the force after a Freedom of Information request by the Derby Telegraph. Deputy Chief Constable Alan Goodwin said: "We take our responsibilities under the Data Protection Act very seriously and all staff and officers receive training about the legislation to ensure that, as far as possible, breaches do not occur. "The police service, for obvious reasons, holds very sensitive information and quite rightly the public expects that the security and proper use of this information will be safeguarded at all times. "Regrettably, there are occasions when the actions of a minority of our staff fall below the standard that we and the public expect of them. This is clearly disappointing but I hope these figures reassure people that the constabulary takes all alleged breaches very seriously and will robustly investigate them to ensure that those responsible are held to account and if necessary, that they leave the organisation as a result of their actions." Those who broke the data protection rules also included police staff, PCSOs and special constables. Of the 19 staff members, 11 left the force before misconduct proceedings were completed; four members of staff received a final written warning; two received "management action"; one officer was dismissed by a disciplinary panel and a PC has a misconduct hearing pending. Allegations were made about a further 14 staff members but the cases were dropped after the complaints were either withdrawn or because of lack of evidence. A case that is still being investigated by the force is the allegation that a PC "improperly accessed police information systems for the purpose of checking the complainant and members of their family". Mark Pickard, chairman of Derbyshire Police Federation, said the force took breaches in data protection "very seriously". Mr Pickard said: "The force has not only dealt with employees strongly but has tried to educate people as well. "We put an article in the police federation magazine to try to express to officers what they can and can't do." 'PC VISITED UP TO THREE TIMES A WEEK FOR SEX' PC Jasbir Dhanda was convicted of having sex with a prostitute while on duty, as well as searching for personal information about women on the police database. He was jailed for two-and-a-half years in January last year. The investigation into Dhanda, who was based at Pear Tree police station for 10 years, began in July 2010 after the woman with whom he was convicted of having sex told another officer about it. Dhanda was suspended a month later. The woman said he would visit her for sex up to three times a week and would give her cigarettes and alcohol when he visited. She said that on one occasion he had picked her up in his police car, bought her cigarettes and alcohol and drove to a country lane, where they had sex. Dhanda, who had denied any wrongdoing, was convicted of three charges of misconduct in public office and three offences of misusing the police database. He used the police Guardian Intelligence System to find out information about the woman with whom he had sex and two other women. _______________________________________________ Dataloss Mailing List (dataloss () datalossdb org) Archived at http://seclists.org/dataloss/ Unsubscribe at http://datalossdb.org/mailing_list Supporters: Risk Based Security (http://www.riskbasedsecurity.com/) Risk Based Security equips organizations with security intelligence, risk management services and on-demand security solutions to establish customized risk-based programs to address information security and compliance challenges.
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- 19 Derbyshire police workers caught abusing force files Erica Absetz (Apr 02)