A former American police officer has come under fire for using the police database to date and have sex with women.
According to an internal investigation, during his time as an officer, Leonel Marines used the database to date over 150 women over the course of six years.
Leonel Marines is also accused of inappropriate contact after police interviews, of visiting homes of women under false pretences when no report of a crime was made and of deliberately targeting women who did not speak English in order to prevent them raising suspicions to his superiors.
The investigation began in June of last year when Leonel followed a woman to her parent’s house with no cause and later gave false information about why he attempted to question the woman. The former officer first said he had received a call about a domestic dispute and later that he followed her as the headlight on her car was broken.
Neither statements were true and this was flagged up with the police chief who began investigating Leonel’s use of the police database. It was then found that the officer almost exclusively searched for women on the database and often had no reason to do so other than for his own agenda.
The police chief of the Florida area, Melanie Bevan said at a news conference, “Leonel Marines was not utilising this data for law enforcement purposes whatsoever. Instead, he was using it in a variety of ways, via social media, cold telephone calls, visits to their homes under the guise of being there for police business, you name it, to try and get dates with these women. And he was very persistent, and successful at times, in his efforts to do so.”
The disgraced officer resigned in October after a period of suspension and removal of police powers such as the right to carry a gun. Leonel Marines is also currently being investigated by the FBI.