The Bureau Recommends: Campaigners reveal database abuse by police
More than 900 police staff abused their access to confidential police databases between 2007 and 2010, research by a pro-civil rights campaign group has found.
The Big Brother Watch website, set up by the founders of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, published the results of Freedom of Information requests to police forces across England.
Their findings show that between 2007 and 2010:
243 Police officers and staff received criminal convictions for breaching the Data Protection Act (DPA)
98 Police officers and staff had their employment terminated for breaching the DPA
904 Police officers and staff were subjected to internal disciplinary procedures for breaching the DPA
Stand-out cases include a police sergeant who obtained information about his ex-wife which he passed on to his solicitors, and a member of police staff who was sacked after she posted confidential policing information on Facebook.
The findings by Big Brother Watch coincide with allegations in the phone hacking scandal that members of the Metropolitan Police were paid to pass information to the News of World.
