Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Abusing D.A.V.I.D.



Nah, we're not talking about a priest molesting some kid named David.  In this case D.A.V.I.D. is an acronym for the state of Florida's Driver And Vehicle Information Database a secured database that's available to every law enforcement agency in the state which stores a persons drivers license information including home address, social security number, driving history etc.  Along with access to the D.A.V.I.D. system, law enforcement agencies also have the ability to search the federal National Crime Information Center (aka NCIC) which is a database of criminal justice information, criminal record history, stolen property information, missing persons, etc.  

That's all well and good when you're a cop searching for bad guys and need to get the low down on them, but what happens when a law enforcement officer or agency abuses the system?  A perfect example of just such an abuse of the D.A.V.I.D. or N.C.I.C. systems would be if a cop sees an attractive woman driving down the road and decides to find out who she is by running her license plate number in order to access her personal information, sounds stalker like, yet it happens on a daily basis.  On the other hand, say you're a cop and decide to abuse these databases to find out sensitive information against your adversaries?  Or what if you're a police chief in a tiny little two and a half square mile city and you have some guy with a blog that's made a hobby out of uncovering your misdeeds?  Does it stand to reason that this chief would go ahead and use one of these databases to delve into his antagonists past?  It's possible, in fact several people have told me that there is one such police chief that does just that, I'm told that this particular police chief uses both the D.A.V.I.D. and N.C.I.C. system to dig up dirt on his adversaries and political detractors with relative impunity.  

That misuse of these databases would be in violation of the terms of use for both these databases, in fact, when you log into the state of Florida's D.A.V.I.D. system, you're greeted with the following warning...
All data contained within the DAVID system is sensitive and privileged information and shall be handled accordingly. To maintain the integrity of this information, the records will be accorded proper management and security, and will only be accessed and used by authorized personnel in accordance with state and federal law. 
Activity associated with any aspect of the DAVID system is subject to detailed monitoring and audits to protect against improper or unauthorized use. Unauthorized use includes, but is not limited to, queries not related to a legitimate business purpose,
personal use, dissemination, sharing, copying, or passing of DAVID information to unauthorized users and could result in civil proceedings against the offending agency and or criminal proceedings against any user or other person involved. Violations
or misuse may also subject the user and the user’s agency to administrative sanctions and possible disciplinary action by their agency, and could result in DAVID access termination. 
 
Accessing the DAVID system by any individual or agency constitutes their consent to the monitoring of all activities, as well as consent to the suspension or termination of their access privileges during or following any audit that determines misuse of the system.
That's a good enough warning isn't it?  There are two parts of this warning that I think warrant additional attention, first...
Unauthorized use includes, but is not limited to, queries not related to a legitimate business purpose, personal use, dissemination, sharing, copying, or passing ofDAVID information to unauthorized users and could result in civil proceedings against the offending agency and or criminal proceedings against any user or other person involved.
In other words, fuck around with this system and misuse it then be prepared to deal with the consequences.  And then this...
Activity associated with any aspect of the DAVID system is subject to detailed monitoring and audits to protect against improper or unauthorized use.
In a nutshell, what this part means is that once you log in and start running people's names, you're leaving an electronic fingerprint on everything you do.  That's all well and good, it seems like a reasonable system with adequate checks and balances to deal with people who abuse the system.  I don't know much about the federal N.C.I.S. system, but I have to imagine it must have the same mechanisms in place.

So what's this all got to do with anything?  Like I said before, in addition to several different people telling me, I've always had a hunch that a certain police chief that we've been writing about lately and his cronies have been abusing the state and federal databases, I never though much of it as I had no idea that there were such stringent security measures in place that kept records of who was accessing these databases.  What alerted me to this topic was a lawsuit filed by Florida Highway Patrol Officer Donna Watts, for those of you who don't remember Trooper Watts, she's the FHP officer that pulled over the City of Miami cop for speeding on the Turnpike.  After her infamous chase video was aired, a war broke out between virtually every law enforcement agency and trooper Watts regarding the incident, from the Jalopnik article regarding the incident...
A war is brewing in South Florida, but don't look to the police to protect you. They're the ones who are fighting. Members of the Miami-Dade Police Department aren't taking kindly to having one of their own arrested at gunpoint by a State Trooper and now the threats and insults are flying.
It started last month when Miami Officer Fausto Lopez was pulled over in his squad car for driving 120 MPH en route to an off-duty job. Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) Trooper Donna Jane Watts pulled him over, gun drawn, and put him in handcuffs.
Miami cops are complaining that it was an overreaction. Florida Highway Patrol, mostly, is backing up their trooper and claiming the Miami PD is full of would-be David Carusos. And it's getting worse.
The head of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police sent out a letter defending Lopez with the obviously coded remark "Do not be running her information on DAVID, FCIC/NCIC, etc." referring to databases used by law enforcement.
It turns out despite the warnings, several law enforcement officers did just that, once they had Trooper Watts personal information, they started crank calling her, showing up at her house to intimidate her, smearing feces all over her car, etc.  Trooper Watts then turned around and subpoenaed the state and got the names of everyone that used the state's D.A.V.I.D. system to access her personal information and then slammed all the offending cops and their respective agencies.  Here's the lawsuit...


Wouldn't you know it?  Who's named in this lawsuit other than our friend, embattled City of South Miami Police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro!  How do you like them apples!  While the lawsuit doesn't allege that the chief himself used the databases to access the trooper's information, it alleges that one of his officers did, specifically...
Defendant City of South Miami has not provided a determination as to whether Armando Perez has a legitimate law enforcement purpose for obtaining Watts private driver’s license information to Plaintiff.
It goes on to say...

Defendant Armando Perez accessed Watts private personal information three (3) times on November 1, 2011.
Now, why the hell would Officer Perez do such a thing?  Regardless of why Officer Perez abused the system, I think his behavior indicates a pattern of behavior within the City of South Miami PD.  I'll bet that if I were to get together a list of the chief's political foes and submit them to the state that we'd see an inordinate number of them have been run through the states D.A.V.I.D. system or the federal N.C.I.C. system.

With that said, I wonder what happened to Trooper Watts' lawsuit, I've heard rumors that the City of South Miami has settled with her and ponied up $13,000.  If indeed that is the case, I wonder where that settlement money came from.  In the meantime, I think it's time to get an attorney to start looking into the subject of who's been running certain names in the D.A.V.I.D. and N.C.I.C. databases, who knows, maybe I can pick up an extra $13k?

24 comments:

  1. Amen, abuse of power must not be tolerated at any level. Kick their butts.

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  2. Mikey, Mikey, Mikey...You couldn't pick up an extra 13k even if you were working the Boulevard back in it's heyday.
    Another "Wonderful" Article (Opinion)that was pulled out of the Nether Regions of your Colon.
    We can smell it all the way down Sunset.

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    1. Another story I pulled out of my nether regions? Lets take a look at this story:

      Fact: the chief was sued because the department he runs abused the DAVID system

      Fact: the city settled the suit for $13,000

      Speculation: the chief and his cronies use the system to collect information on their adversaries.

      Fact: I've already retained an attorney to find out whether the chief or any of his subordinates have abused the system to gather information on a short list of his "adversaries"

      Anything else you need clarified?

      Delete
  3. Go for it Mike, Love you

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  4. Another fact: South Miami PD Officer Armando Perez resigned after he was charged with accessing the trooper's info in D.A.V.I.D. three times.

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  5. DAVID VS GOLIATH, show them this is not their goddamn colony and we are not their serfs. I am behind you 100%

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  6. If South Miami settled, why isn't there a filed voluntary dismissal? Also, the City Commission would have to approve the payment of the settlement, since it's over $5,000.

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  7. I'm glad Judge Middlebrooks has been assigned this case, he's fair.

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    1. Can the police officers that abuse D.A.V.I.D. get sued individually, it would be ice if the taxpayers didn't have to pony up for the actions of a few bad apples

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    2. We had better also check to see if the Chief's good buddies in the Sweetwater PD have queried DAVID or NCIC for information on that short list of Martinez de Castro adversaries

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  8. Mr. Hatami, just a simple question. If it is found that no one has run the names of OMC's "Political Enemies" are you willing to give an Apology to OMC on your blog?

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    1. Of course I would, that is right after he publicly apologizes for calling me a con man and a scumbag. Let me know when that happens so I can prepare my apology.

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  9. But weren't you Arrested & Convicted of Fraud?

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    1. The record speaks for itself, I've never been convicted of anything let alone for fraud.

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  10. My Bad!!! Arrested, but NOT Convicted of Grand Theft & Fraud Charges. But here you are Convicting and Vilifying the Chief without his day in Court... Outstanding Journalism!!
    Let the Legal Process work, like it worked for you LOL

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    1. Fair enough, we'd be happy to give him his day in court but his attorney has been stalling the depositions for months now and doing everything he can to keep his client out of court so what are we supposed to do?

      Since you know him so well and are one of his staunchest defenders, tell him to man up, quit stalling and get the depos over with.

      Btw, rumor has it that there's already a new investigation opened up into the chief and his behavior over at the city...

      Delete
  11. Fair enough, we'd be happy to give him his day in court but his attorney has been stalling the depositions for months now and doing everything he can to keep his client out of court so what are we supposed to do?
    What are YOU supposed to do?? What have YOU ALWAYS DONE??? Write Rumor's, Innuendoes, Non-Truth's, and BS!!!
    And just for the record..I'm not one of his "Staunchest Supporters", I'm just waiting for the Whole Story, the Truth to come out.
    I guess it's too much to ask.

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    1. Apparently you have not been following this blog for too long. The truth comes out piece by piece and when you put all the pieces together you find that Chief Martinez is a dirty scumbag end of story.

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  12. So, are we to beLIEve only in what the Herald and other institutions attempt to feed us?

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  13. Fine, let's hear it from Valerie's bagman, Mr. Padreda, who can usually be found dining at Bird Road and 83 Ave., or the Chief's supporters who dine at Lario's, or the Chief's lackies who walk en masse to the Chevron's sandwich shop around 9:15 AM. Why did Herald Editor Scott Andron assign Andrea Torres to write 2 articles a week about us? Because there's a lot of BS happening here. The real money to be made at residents expense is when our zoning regs are rewritten and when the concrete starts flowing. That money will make the bad contracts the City has been giving out look like chump change.

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  14. http://www.myactsofsedition.com/2013/04/12/the-unauthorized-criminal-investigation-of-a-private-citizen/

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  15. How do you like these apples...sound strangely familiar to your blog...maybe you two need to get in touch with each other. http://irarobins.blogspot.com/

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  16. "To that end, Bondi encourages the court to not be persuaded by rulings in similar federal cases from last September, in which courts decided that Congress had authority to punish public officials for improperly accessing the DAVID system.

    Besides the seeming contradiction that only the U.S. attorney could sue for something that the federal government cannot regulate anyway, Bondi's defense is rich in irony. For example, Bondi herself is a likely victim in the case, if it attains class-action status. Thomas' trolling of the database came to light after a reporter from Bay News 9, a local cable TV network in the Tampa area, asked the HSMV which agencies had looked up Bondi's records. When the Sheriff's Office popped up on that list, Sheriff Chris Blair's staff investigated Thomas, and discovered that he had accessed thousands of records over the past three years.
    Thomas, a court bailiff who had also been a decorated SWAT team member, subsequently ended his 26-year career by resigning once the scandal broke.
    Which raises a second point about Bondi's defense: cops have been penalized for viewing her records. Thomas was forced to resign, although not specifically about Bondi. The Bradenton Herald reported last October that an officer there was suspended for one month without pay after being netted by the same public records request that caught Thomas." -
    Bondi objects to lawsuit Says FDLE shouldn't be sued
    By Bill Thompson Staff writer
    Published: Thursday, January 2, 2014 at 5:19 p.m.
    http://www.ocala.com/article/20140102/ARTICLES/140109959?template=printpicart

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