As noted previously on this blog, both Minnesota and Florida have had repeated problems with improper access to their drivers license databases, and both states have reported incidents in which it was law enforcement officers abusing their access to the databases. Now Amy Pavuk reports:
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.
Read more on Orlando Sentinel.