Post by Shuftin on Jul 27, 2006 8:58:35 GMT -5
2006-07-26
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – Police worry most that they might arrest people without cause but also say they are likely to let free those who otherwise might be arrested for driving with a suspended or revoked license.
Officials say the problem, which is related to the hassles Hoosiers have recently faced in license branches, has forced law enforcement agencies in Marion and Hamilton counties to stop using the BMV's computer records alone as the basis for detaining motorists.
Last week, the Indiana State Police alerted law enforcement agencies statewide about the problem, informing them that their officers might "encounter what is perceived to be a potential inaccuracy in BMV data" and directing them to report any such difficulties.
In Marion County and Indianapolis, sheriff's deputies and police officers logging on to their computers have been getting daily reminders from the city's Metropolitan Emergency Communications Agency that the BMV reports are unreliable.
Indianapolis Police Capt. Greg Bieberich, who commands the traffic division, said the computer problem has compromised public safety because officers can't make arrests when perhaps they should.
In certain situations, Bieberich also has advised officers to no longer detain people based on BMV information that normally would prompt an arrest.
"We should consider that information unreliable unless we can verify it," he said. "And if they can't verify, then they shouldn't write the violation."
In neighboring Hamilton County, a frustrated Sheriff Doug Carter reacted with a strong complaint to the governor's office this week after assessing the impact of the computer problem.
"It's huge," Carter said. "The governor indicated it's all going to work itself out. But I don't agree."
Gov. Mitch Daniels said he thinks training is the main issue.
"There's not a computer problem," he said. "There was a training problem in some cases. So, those who knew how to operate the new system, no problem. Folks who maybe hadn't been given enough information or training got confused."
BMV Commissioner Joel Silverman also insisted the system's "not broken."
However, he said the solution might also mean tinkering with the interface between the BMV computer system and the State Police server that police departments rely on to access BMV data.
Silverman urged agencies having trouble to contact the State Police. He promised that if authorities there can't resolve the issue, the BMV and its software vendor would.
So far, analyses of complaints forwarded to the State Police show the BMV information conveyed was, in fact, correct but misinterpreted by those receiving it, according to State Police spokesman Lt. Scott Beamon.
Beamon said Carter had not yet relayed details of his problems, but the sheriff said he is not convinced that training is the answer.
Carter, in an e-mail he sent Monday to Eric Holcomb, a governor's liaison to public safety officials throughout the state, complained that he has had to order Hamilton County officers not to arrest potential lawbreakers whose apparent infraction is based on evidence from a BMV computer records check.
Carter ordered the precaution, he said, because the BMV system accessed by dispatchers or officers' mobile computers is spitting out faulty information that implicates drivers in offenses they never committed.
In some cases, the data might mistakenly show a driver has had his or her license suspended, or wrongly reflect a prior conviction that would trigger more serious charges and a higher bail.
"On the legal side, it has lots of associated risks," said the sheriff, including possible police liability for unlawful detention. There's also the chance that a judge might bar evidence of a driver's criminal activity if the traffic stop that led to it was based on faulty BMV data.
To make his point, Carter did BMV records checks Monday on six of his radio dispatchers, keying in their names and license information to see what the computers returned.
"Every one of them was incorrect," he said. "I ran myself, and it's incorrect. It shows that I have a defensive driving credit. I've never been to defensive driving."
Police in Carmel say they have been handicapped by the BMV system, too.
"It's got the wrong information on there on people in general," said Assistant Chief Tim Green.
Indiana's director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving said Tuesday that she may raise the matter for investigation by the Governor's Council on Impaired and Dangerous Driving.
"I've talked to some law enforcement officers, and they've let me know it's pretty much a mess for them right now," said MADD Indiana Executive Director Melody Stevens.
BMV officials have been trying to resolve problems with the new computer system since it came online after the July 1-4 final phase of an upgrade initiated in 1998.
License renewals and reinstatements are among troublesome transactions they have faced. While those remain a problem, Silverman said most others have been corrected.
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – Police worry most that they might arrest people without cause but also say they are likely to let free those who otherwise might be arrested for driving with a suspended or revoked license.
Officials say the problem, which is related to the hassles Hoosiers have recently faced in license branches, has forced law enforcement agencies in Marion and Hamilton counties to stop using the BMV's computer records alone as the basis for detaining motorists.
Last week, the Indiana State Police alerted law enforcement agencies statewide about the problem, informing them that their officers might "encounter what is perceived to be a potential inaccuracy in BMV data" and directing them to report any such difficulties.
In Marion County and Indianapolis, sheriff's deputies and police officers logging on to their computers have been getting daily reminders from the city's Metropolitan Emergency Communications Agency that the BMV reports are unreliable.
Indianapolis Police Capt. Greg Bieberich, who commands the traffic division, said the computer problem has compromised public safety because officers can't make arrests when perhaps they should.
In certain situations, Bieberich also has advised officers to no longer detain people based on BMV information that normally would prompt an arrest.
"We should consider that information unreliable unless we can verify it," he said. "And if they can't verify, then they shouldn't write the violation."
In neighboring Hamilton County, a frustrated Sheriff Doug Carter reacted with a strong complaint to the governor's office this week after assessing the impact of the computer problem.
"It's huge," Carter said. "The governor indicated it's all going to work itself out. But I don't agree."
Gov. Mitch Daniels said he thinks training is the main issue.
"There's not a computer problem," he said. "There was a training problem in some cases. So, those who knew how to operate the new system, no problem. Folks who maybe hadn't been given enough information or training got confused."
BMV Commissioner Joel Silverman also insisted the system's "not broken."
However, he said the solution might also mean tinkering with the interface between the BMV computer system and the State Police server that police departments rely on to access BMV data.
Silverman urged agencies having trouble to contact the State Police. He promised that if authorities there can't resolve the issue, the BMV and its software vendor would.
So far, analyses of complaints forwarded to the State Police show the BMV information conveyed was, in fact, correct but misinterpreted by those receiving it, according to State Police spokesman Lt. Scott Beamon.
Beamon said Carter had not yet relayed details of his problems, but the sheriff said he is not convinced that training is the answer.
Carter, in an e-mail he sent Monday to Eric Holcomb, a governor's liaison to public safety officials throughout the state, complained that he has had to order Hamilton County officers not to arrest potential lawbreakers whose apparent infraction is based on evidence from a BMV computer records check.
Carter ordered the precaution, he said, because the BMV system accessed by dispatchers or officers' mobile computers is spitting out faulty information that implicates drivers in offenses they never committed.
In some cases, the data might mistakenly show a driver has had his or her license suspended, or wrongly reflect a prior conviction that would trigger more serious charges and a higher bail.
"On the legal side, it has lots of associated risks," said the sheriff, including possible police liability for unlawful detention. There's also the chance that a judge might bar evidence of a driver's criminal activity if the traffic stop that led to it was based on faulty BMV data.
To make his point, Carter did BMV records checks Monday on six of his radio dispatchers, keying in their names and license information to see what the computers returned.
"Every one of them was incorrect," he said. "I ran myself, and it's incorrect. It shows that I have a defensive driving credit. I've never been to defensive driving."
Police in Carmel say they have been handicapped by the BMV system, too.
"It's got the wrong information on there on people in general," said Assistant Chief Tim Green.
Indiana's director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving said Tuesday that she may raise the matter for investigation by the Governor's Council on Impaired and Dangerous Driving.
"I've talked to some law enforcement officers, and they've let me know it's pretty much a mess for them right now," said MADD Indiana Executive Director Melody Stevens.
BMV officials have been trying to resolve problems with the new computer system since it came online after the July 1-4 final phase of an upgrade initiated in 1998.
License renewals and reinstatements are among troublesome transactions they have faced. While those remain a problem, Silverman said most others have been corrected.