California's finest just can't keep their grubby little fingers off those sweet, sweet database keys! The Electronic Frontier Foundation just dropped a bombshell report showing our boys and girls in blue went full creeper mode over 7,000 times in 2023.
The grand prize for most enthusiastic privacy violator goes to the famously corrupt Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department — which has been operating as an untouchable organized crime gang for decades — with a whopping 6,789 violations.
These uniformed crooks basically turned CLETS (that's the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System) into their personal Facebook stalking tool, except with way more sensitive info. They were doing everything from stalking ex-lovers to running illegal background checks for concealed carry permits. One particularly creative officer in Redding allegedly used the database to set up a traffic stop for his fiancée's ex-husband, getting the poor schmuck's car towed. A rather odd way to "protect and serve" if you ask me, but I'm one of those delusional naifs who thinks abusing authority shouldn't be a built-in perk of having a badge and a login password.
Then there's this enterprising California Highway Patrol officer who "was charged with improperly accessing CLETS to investigate vehicles his friend was interested in purchasing as part of his automotive business." Because, why pay for CarFax when you can just commit a felony and get it for free?
As the EFF notes with delicious understatement: "The sheer amount of misuse should serve as a warning that other systems police use, such as automated license plate reader and face recognition databases, are likely also being abused at a high rate–or even higher, since they are not subject to the same scrutiny as CLETS."
At this point, maybe we should just rename CLETS to "Corrupt Lawmen Enjoying Their Surveillance" and be done with it.