Officer used police databases to find ex-girlfriends’ personal information, AZ cops say
.jpg "A former Buckeye police officer used the department’s databases to illegally look up people’s personal information, police said. Now the man has been charged.")
A former Arizona officer is accused of illegally accessing police databases to look up the personal information of ex-girlfriends, friends and other officers, police said.
Charles Cosgrove, 38, was arrested on Monday, Aug. 1, and indicted on dozens of charges, including perjury and unauthorized access of criminal history, according to a news release from the City of Buckeye.
Cosgrove was an officer for the Buckeye Police Department when he began using the law enforcement database and the criminal justice database systems without any reason, police said in a probable cause statement.
He is accused of looking up the private information of women he dated, people he hung out with, friends, people he met while on the job, other officers in the state and current and past city employees, police said.
An internal investigation into “potential misconduct” began May 4 after a “police supervisor came forward with concerns,” the city said.
On June 9 — before the investigation was completed — Cosgrove resigned, the release says. He was with the department for 10 years.
A separate criminal investigation began on June 14 after more information was provided by a third party, which led authorities to discover that Cosgrove had been looking into people’s personal information and criminal backgrounds, city officials said.
He was indicted by a county grand jury on 21 counts of perjury and five counts of unauthorized access of criminal history.
His next court hearing is Aug. 9. Officials did not say whether he has an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
This story was originally published August 4, 2022 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Officer used police databases to find ex-girlfriends’ personal information, AZ cops say."
