ARTICLESNews, Articles, Press Releases | PHONE: 1.888.224.1288 |
|
|
|
| | |
| |
|
Missoula deputy fired for lying about
Net useage
By TRISTAN SCOTT
The Missoulian
According to Dominick, the Web-monitoring software showed Evenson sometimes trolled for profiles on MySpace for hours, citing one instance where the officer spent seven hours networking. The software, called SONAR, took snapshots of every Web page Evenson visited, then forwarded the images to the company's server. Dominick could then log on at the site and view all of Evenson's Internet activity from the previous day.
A Missoula County sheriff's deputy was fired Wednesday for initiating sexually explicit conversations on the Internet using a county-owned computer and lying to supervisors about the nature of his online activity.
Sgt. Ty Evenson created an account on MySpace.com to improve relations between law enforcement and the public, according to his online profile. Evenson's Web page also identifies him as a deputy sheriff employed with Missoula area law enforcement whose online intention is to meet people interested in assisting law enforcement in a confidential one-on-one basis. However, an internal investigation allegedly shows Evenson used the popular online social networking Web site inappropriately and to a degree that compromised his official duties and violated Missoula County's electronic communications policy.
Your documented pattern of activity more closely resembles that of a sexual predator than of a deputy sheriff dedicated to .improved relations between law enforcement and the public,' a letter of termination from Sheriff Mike McMeekin stated.
According to McMeekin, the offense became fireable when Evenson lied to supervisors and attempted to destroy evidence by deleting sent and received messages on his MySpace account.
The investigation began after Undersheriff Mike Dominick received three citizen complaints from women who said they were disturbed by Evenson's unorthodox online outreach tactics, and wondered if he really was employed by the sheriff's department. Dominick then installed a Web-monitoring program on Evenson's laptop and began tracking the officer's Internet activity at work.
One of Evenson's -friends, a 19-year-old Missoula girl, posted a comment wondering what the 44-year-old man was doing online.
Not 100 percent sure what this is ... you're a cop and trying to better the connection between law enforcement and Missoulians? Is that what's going on here? the woman wrote.
A three-week investigation revealed that Evenson's browsing criteria on MySpace were set to swinger and women, and shows he initiated contact with hundreds of women across the country who identified themselves as strippers, prostitutes and porn stars. The messages were frequently sexually suggestive and -occasionally in very sexually explicit language," according to McMeekin's letter.
Nearly all of the activity took place while Evenson was on duty and using county-owned equipment, software and Internet access accounts.
According to Dominick, the Web-monitoring software showed Evenson sometimes trolled for profiles on MySpace for hours, citing one instance where the officer spent seven hours networking. The software, called SONAR, took snapshots of every Web page Evenson visited, then forwarded the images to the company's server. Dominick could then log on at the site and view all of Evenson's Internet activity from the previous day.
The MySpace.com activities became so consuming that, by your own admission to the disciplinary review board, you would park your patrol vehicle near a .WiFi hot spot' because those Internet connections were much faster, according to the letter.
On Feb. 27, Evenson was suspended from his duties with pay pending the recommendations of a departmental review board.
The five-member review board, which serves as a departmental jury, convened March 5 and conducted a seven-hour hearing, during which Dominick questioned Evenson and displayed slides of his Internet browsing, e-mails and chat pages.
The review board unanimously recommended Evenson's termination and found him guilty of five separate departmental charges: violating the county's electronic communications policy, gross inefficiency for delaying his response to dispatch calls, conduct unbecoming an officer, and two separate instances of -being untruthful" with supervisors.
McMeekin and Johnson acknowledged that county employees have been disciplined in the past for violating the electronic communications policy by viewing inappropriate materials. However, no one has ever been fired for those misdeeds because they've always confessed to supervisors after being confronted.
We've never seen anything so extensive or anyone who's tried to hide their activities or mislead investigators when confronted about it," Dominick said.
|
| |
| | |
|
|
|
| |
TESTIMONIALS
“SONAR makes it easy to see what’s really
going on in my company. the increase in
productivity alone has given me
tremendous ROI”
Chris Johns
SupportSave
Customer Testimonials
|
|
|
ARTICLES
|
|
DOWNLOAD
WHITEPAPERS
Click here to download our whitepapers.
PRODUCT VIDEO
Click here to view our product video and open your eyes to the REVOLUTION.
|
|
