When Springfield Police Department Detective Matthew Farmer Refused to Give His Name,
Private Investigator Derrick Marshall Was Forced to Identify Him Using His License Plate
Police Continue to Broadcast Social Security Numbers Following Complaint
My interview with Citizen For Justice pertaining to the broadcast of personal information by the law enforcement agencies in the Springfield/Greene County, MO area. The broadcasts have continued despite my complaints advising these agencies of the danger they present.
Last month I delivered complaints to the Springfield Police Department, Greene County Sheriff’s Department, and Springfield-Greene County 911 Emergency Communications, alerting those agencies that they were violating the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act by broadcasting social security numbers over public dispatch channels.
I believed that when an officer or deputy contacted a citizen who lacked an identification card, they would request that they provide their name, social security number, and date of birth. That information would then be read to a dispatcher over a channel available to anyone in the world with a police scanner app. With that, an identity thief could ruin a person’s credit through a variety of methods. [Read more…]
Springfield Police Department Detective Confronts Man Filming Police Station
Video of our confrontation with Springfield Police Department Detective Matt Farmer
In March of 2017 Citizens For Justice cameraman Matt Akins and I were confronted by Springfield Missouri Police Department Detective Matt Farmer while filming the SPD Headquarters. Akins had been following me as I investigated the public broadcast of private information by Springfield police officers. The investigation, which uncovered evidence that Social Security numbers were being read to the 911 call center over an unsecured dispatch channel available to anyone with a smart phone, led us to the Springfield Police Department General Headquarters. [Read more…]
Springfield Missouri Law Enforcement Leaking Social Security Numbers
My interview with Citizen For Justice pertaining to the illegal release of personal information by the Springfield Police Department, Greene County Sheriff’s Department, and Springfield-Greene County 911 Emergency Communications Center
A Dangerous Practice
Earlier this year I was listening to the Springfield-Greene County dispatch over the police scanner app on my phone when I overheard something that shocked me. In response to a contact an officer made with a citizen who seemed to lack an ID, the officer contacted the county’s 911 Emergency Communications department (dispatch) over an unsecured channel to run a background check on the citizen. Being that the citizen seemed to have no official form of identification, the officer had collected his social security number, name, and date of birth. This information was then read over this same unsecured channel to the dispatcher who reported back with more information about the subjects driving and criminal record after several minutes. [Read more…]