A police officer from Florida has resigned from his job after being accused of using the police database to track down and stalk women that he could potentially date.
Former Officer Leonel Marines who served at the Bradenton Police Department from 12 years has been accused of obtaining private information from the police database to find women he could date.
The policeman has also been accused of contacting women over the phone and social media and visiting them at their homes under the pretense that he was doing police business.
Allegedly, the accused misused his power to reach out to over 150 individuals, most often targeting Hispanic women.
According to Bradenton Police Chief Melanie Bevan, Marines had been using the police database for years. His actions, however, first came under the spotlight in June last year after the officer followed a woman back to her home after an encounter at a parking lot.
Apparently, Marines then knocked on her door and demanded to speak with the woman about a “domestic matter” after her parents asked him what the problem was.
The woman’s parents, however, refused to let Marines enter their home and called the police to report the officer’s suspicious activity. The depraved officer then made a quick getaway without giving his information to the parents.
Soon enough, the police department started an investigation into the matter and discovered a “very, very clear trend of Marines focusing on female versus male names.”
While Marines was initially put on desk duty, the department placed him on unpaid administrative leave and stripped him of his uniform, gun, and badge after they discovered what he had been doing.
“While BPD’s administrative case has concluded, this remains a very active and open criminal investigation which is being handled by the FBI. It goes without saying that this is not what our officers should be doing with their access to info or their time,” Mr. Bevan explained.
“This is truly a disturbing situation for me as chief,” Bevan said, adding that she personally talked to some of the women he harassed in an attempt to “regain their trust in the Bradenton Police Department.”
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