At least 74 police officers are suspected of misusing driver database.

Florida's driver-and-vehicle database, the system that can help law enforcement identify victims of fatal crashes and decipher the identity of a suspect, can be a useful tool for cops.

But the system — known as D.A.V.I.D., for Driving and Vehicle Information Database — can also be easily abused.

Data obtained by the Orlando Sentinel show the number of Florida law-enforcement officers suspected of misusing D.A.V.I.D. skyrocketed last year.

At least 74 law enforcers were suspected of misusing D.A.V.I.D. in 2012, a nearly 400 percent increase from 2011, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Officers who needlessly pull information or photographs from D.A.V.I.D. that would otherwise be private could face criminal charges, sanctions or disciplinary action.

The temptation of looking up a relative, a celebrity's address or a romantic interest is too great for some law enforcers.

In November, an internal Oviedo police investigation found one of the agency's officers made unauthorized searches in D.A.V.I.D. to look up a local bank teller he was reportedly flirting with.
Oviedo police reports said Sgt. Dwayne Walker, who resigned amid the probe, used his D.A.V.I.D. account to run 19 separate searches using the first name of the bank teller and her race as part of the search criteria.

But the case that received the most attention last year involved Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Donna "Jane" Watts, who found herself at the center of a firestorm after she pulled over a speeding police officer at gunpoint in South Florida.

Last month, she filed a federal lawsuit against more than 100 officers and agencies, alleging 88 law enforcers from 25 agencies viewed her private information more than 200 times.

Watts' West Palm Beach attorney, Mirta Desir, said whether it is her client's case or other documented instances of misuse, "it is apparent that something is not working when it comes to the D.A.V.I.D. system."

Each time a law-enforcement officer logs into D.A.V.I.D., he or she is told the system is subject to monitoring and audits to prevent improper use. Officers are not to use D.A.V.I.D. for personal use and cannot share or copy the information, which includes emergency contacts.

It's unclear exactly how many law-enforcement officers in Florida misuse D.A.V.I.D. each year without being detected or reported to authorities.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement tracks D.A.V.I.D. violations as "misuse of official position," but that category includes other violations. When the issue involves D.A.V.I.D., it is supposed to be noted in the tracking system, but that's not guaranteed.

An FDLE spokeswoman said there is no known reason why the number of cases involving suspected improper use of D.A.V.I.D. spiked from 15 in 2011 to 74 last year.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-law-enforcement-access-databases-20130119,0,7247843.story