<blockquote>The FBI claims that ‘‘malicious misuse is not commonly discovered.’’ Both the instructor testifying at the Valle trial and an Internal Affairs Bureau investigator who took the witness stand in an earlier case have conceded that officers can easily circumvent safeguards.</blockquote>
The investigator testified as a government witness at the 2010 trial of an NYPD officer accused of using the database to conduct surveillance of a perfume warehouse in New Jersey before an armed robbery there. He told jurors that officers often do searches while logged in under another officer’s name — either out of neglect or, in this case, intent.
‘‘Unfortunately ... it’s not unusual that it happens,’’ the investigator said.