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Can a Police Officer Check Your Criminal History and then Share It with the Public

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  • 01-24-2016, 06:27 PM
    snoopdog
    Can a Police Officer Check Your Criminal History and then Share It with the Public
    My question involves criminal records for the state of: Oregon.

    I had something brought to my attention about a year ago in casual conversation while I was out having dinner (it has been eating at me ever since). Someone made a comment to me about something that happened in my past (in California) that is not in public record. I believe he got the information from a police officer that we both know. The officer and I never liked each other and have never been friends we're just members of a league. My question is does this police officer have a right to be looking into my past in the first place, and what legal avenue can I pursue against this officer. I know one thing for certain, I was never convicted or arrested on this incident, and this information couldn't have been found out by the person who mentioned it to me.
  • 01-24-2016, 06:53 PM
    Taxing Matters
    Re: Can a Police Officer Check Your Criminal History and then Share It with the Publi
    If it happened in California years ago and is not in the public record, did not result in charges, and did not result in an arrest, how do you think the officer got that information? Understand that it is not the case that every bit of information that some police department has obtained is available to every other law enforcement agency, especially in an entirely different state. You’d have to first figure out if, in fact, the person was told about it by this officer (contrary to your assertion, it may just be that he found it out by digging on his own rather than from the officer) and then, if it was the officer, how the officer found out about it. A lot of information is not actually protected by law, and if he obtained it from some source that is not protected he may have been able to freely share it with anyone. The details matter.
  • 01-24-2016, 06:54 PM
    jk
    Re: Can a Police Officer Check Your Criminal History and then Share It with the Publi
    what do you believe the cop had access to that was not a matter of public record?


    Quote:

    My question is does this police officer have a right to be looking into my past in the first place,
    in general, yes but there are rules as to what they can do

    Quote:

    and what legal avenue can I pursue against this officer
    .can you prove it was that cop? I didn't think so.

    Quote:

    I know one thing for certain, I was never convicted or arrested on this incident, and this information couldn't have been found out by the person who mentioned it to me.
    so, the info was in a police report somewhere maybe? Where would the police have this info if you were not arrested let alone convicted of whatever it is?
  • 01-24-2016, 08:55 PM
    snoopdog
    Re: Can a Police Officer Check Your Criminal History and then Share It with the Publi
    [B]what do you believe the cop had access to that was not a matter of public record?[B]

    Somehow he knew about some of the details, and the person that told me would never been able to get that information.

    in general, yes but there are rules as to what they can do

    I thought they have to have a reason to be looking up your record. For example: traffic stop, criminal investigation etc...

    can you prove it was that cop? I didn't think so.

    I believe I could find out by filing a report with the city where he worked?


    so, the info was in a police report somewhere maybe? Where would the police have this info if you were not arrested let alone convicted of whatever it is?

    Yes, there was a police report. I was called into an interviewed by the police, but it went no further than that because of my lawyer. They either had to arrest me or the interview was over. They had nothing on me just an accusation by a neighbor. It seems to me with there never being an arrest or conviction it would be almost impossible for someone that wasn't a police officer to access this info. My job required me to have a background check when I was hired a few years back so, I know there is nothing in my records or I wouldn't have been hired at my current job.
  • 01-24-2016, 10:03 PM
    jk
    Re: Can a Police Officer Check Your Criminal History and then Share It with the Publi
    you don't get to go on a duck hunt. If you file a civil suit, some information you are suggesting would give you what you want to know. Without a civil suit, you are relegated to seeking information covered under the California Public Records Act.
  • 01-24-2016, 10:34 PM
    cdwjava
    Re: Can a Police Officer Check Your Criminal History and then Share It with the Publi
    There are many ways people find out dirt on others - it is usually through the grapevine. Unless what happened was in a vacuum and NO ONE YOU KNOW was aware of it, then someone told a friend, that person told a friend, and so on.

    You will not get to file a lawsuit on a guess. It won't happen, and you won't be able to go fishing in an effort to try to find out why he knew the information. You have no proof that he accessed the information unlawfully in some way.

    And, unlike the impression one might get from TV, it is simply not going to be the case that an officer in OR is going to have access to a local police report from an agency in CA. Unless, for some reason, the agency in OR needed the report and requested it from the CA agency, there is no way the OR officer would have known it existed much less sought the info.
  • 01-24-2016, 10:55 PM
    Taxing Matters
    Re: Can a Police Officer Check Your Criminal History and then Share It with the Publi
    Quote:

    Quoting cdwjava
    View Post

    And, unlike the impression one might get from TV, it is simply not going to be the case that an officer in OR is going to have access to a local police report from an agency in CA. Unless, for some reason, the agency in OR needed the report and requested it from the CA agency, there is no way the OR officer would have known it existed much less sought the info.

    Exactly. It’s not like this officer in Oregon could sit down at his computer in his office and access from police departments all over the country all the reports they have on complaints and investigations.

    Note, Snoopdog, that under California’s Public Record Act (PRA) police blotter information (time and circumstances of calls to police; name and details of arrests, warrants, charges, hearing dates, etc) must be made available to the public unless it might jeopardize the investigation or the life of an officer. So if the information was in the nature of police blotter information then anyone could get and that person could then turn around and disclose it to anyone else. So it may well be that even if the officer located this information from the California police department that it was perfectly legal for him to get it and to tell anyone else about it. Not knowing exactly what this information is makes it hard to know if there was any chance it was at all protected information. But I think it’s likely that you have nowhere to go with this.
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