By attending local police board meetings in recent years, Stephen Harrison has hoped to hear about interesting things in the policing realm that may warrant filing a freedom-of-information request so he could get a behind-the-scenes look.

After seeing instances elsewhere of police monitoring local activists, journalists, government officials and others, he decided to see if he含羞草研究社檇 been the subject of such checks given his regular online critiques of Greater Victoria police.

Last year, Harrison requested records of queries into himself through the Police Records Information Management Environment (PRIME) database.

That led to him complaining to B.C.含羞草研究社檚 privacy watchdog, which substantiated his complaints and found the Victoria and Saanich police agencies accessed his personal data without being authorized to do so.

含羞草研究社淚 thought it was inappropriate, I couldn含羞草研究社檛 see any reason why they were looking me up in the PRIME database,含羞草研究社� Harrison said. 含羞草研究社淭hey have incredible access to sensitive information, they should be very careful of how they含羞草研究社檙e using it and it shows they含羞草研究社檙e a bit cavalier with their approach to privacy.含羞草研究社�

A Victoria police officer searched Harrison含羞草研究社檚 name in the database one week after he submitted a request in 2017 for Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) reports. Saanich police staff members ran his name through the database two days after he submitted a request for records in January 2019, and his information was accessed again in March of that year.

Investigations by B.C.含羞草研究社檚 privacy commissioner含羞草研究社檚 office found the Victoria officer and Saanich staff members, respectively, 含羞草研究社渃ould not含羞草研究社� and 含羞草研究社渨ere unable含羞草研究社� to recall the reason they queried Harrison含羞草研究社檚 name in the PRIME system.

含羞草研究社淚n this case, the named (VicPD) officer was responsible for gathering the reports you requested and as you had not requested your personal information as part of that access request, there was no need for them to utilize the PRIME system to access your personal information,含羞草研究社� one of the privacy office含羞草研究社檚 decisions said.

The decisions noted the inability to recall why Harrison含羞草研究社檚 name was searched and the privacy investigator said in both decisions that the purpose of using PRIME 含羞草研究社渨ould be rather apparent.含羞草研究社�

含羞草研究社淭he passage of time would have little-to-no effect on one含羞草研究社檚 ability to recall the reason for accessing it,含羞草研究社� the decisions said.

含羞草研究社淚f it happened to me, it含羞草研究社檚 probably not a one-off so I would suggest that more needs to be done to ensure the police are respecting our personal information, especially given how much power they have over folks含羞草研究社� lives,含羞草研究社� Harrison said. 含羞草研究社淲hat were they going to do with the stuff they found?含羞草研究社�

The situation hasn含羞草研究社檛 made him feel safer in his own community.

含羞草研究社淚f this is someone who potentially is annoyed with you, now it含羞草研究社檚 a police officer who has personal information about you that they should not have,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淚n terms of contributing to feelings of safety or community safety, that doesn含羞草研究社檛 help.含羞草研究社�

Harrison would like to see new policies requiring police staff to document their reason every time they access PRIME 含羞草研究社� noting Saanich police has a similar requirement for off-duty officers 含羞草研究社� and departments should be subject to audits on other instances of unauthorized access to personal data.

The police departments agreed the access was unauthorized in their respective privacy office decisions.

Victoria police told Black Press Media it含羞草研究社檚 taken steps to address the situation and the department takes privacy obligations seriously. The decision noted VicPD spoke to the officer about the breach and the department said Wednesday it含羞草研究社檚 working with the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner to determine next steps.

A spokesperson said VicPD含羞草研究社檚 freedom-of-information section has updated and enhanced training for teams across the department and noted the officer failed to follow protocols.

含羞草研究社淎t this time, we do not see a need to introduce any further protocols, as we are addressing both the individual matter and overall awareness appropriately,含羞草研究社� added VicPD含羞草研究社檚 Bowen Osoko in an email.

Saanich police told Black Press Media it respects the decision and the privacy commissioner office含羞草研究社檚 recommendation to conduct regular training with all employees to ensure a clear understanding of the department含羞草研究社檚 obligations under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).

含羞草研究社淭his training is currently under development,含羞草研究社� a Saanich police spokesperson said.

The Ministry of Public Safety was asked for comment on the unauthorized use of the PRIME database and said it would provide a statement in the coming days.

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