OAKLAND, CA – Kaiser Permanente has fired its top security official after sources alleged he received confidential data from a California criminal database accessed by an Oakland police officer, reports the Mercury News.
According to multiple sources, Mercury News said, Officer Khyber Mangal was accused of researching people in the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLET) and passing the information to at least one former police officer working for Kaiser.
Mercury News states the sources believe the data had then been received by a private security team working under Craig Chew, the national director of corporate security investigations for Kaiser.
Although the number of individuals Mangal is accused of researching is not known, but sources said they were related to threats made against at least one Kaiser employee, reports the Mercury News.
The database CLETS contains residents’ criminal history, driving records, and links to national law enforcement databases, and it is illegal under state law to use for non-law enforcement purposes, writes Mercury News.
“Kaiser Permanente takes matters of security and inappropriate behavior amongst our staff seriously. When we investigate and confirm evidence of illegal behavior, we address it, notify law enforcement and cooperate fully with their investigation, as appropriate,” according to the hospital’s statement sent by Kerri Leedy, senior manager of public relations, shares Mercury News.
After 40 years of working in East Bay Area law enforcement, Chew entered private security as the chief of inspectors at the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, reports Mercury News.
After being fired during a staff shakeup by then-District Attorney Pamela Price, he joined Kaiser and brought several former Oakland police officers to work under him, adds the Mercury News.
According to the Mercury News, Chew maintains the allegations are false and seeks to “distance” himself from the situation.
The Mercury News quotes Chew stating, “If Kaiser is true to its policy of conducting fair and thorough investigations in matters of workplace complaints, Kaiser knows this statement is false. Their reason for terminating me, and many others, is a complete fabrication.”
Dave Mass, director of investigations at the non-profit digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation, told the Mercury News there was an “inconsistency” in which suspected CLETS abusers are investigated and prosecuted.
He noted that the privacy of the members of the public isn’t a “high enough priority” for many law enforcement agencies, added the Mercury News.
Following the allegations, the Mercury News adds, the Oakland Police Department has opened an internal affairs inquiry and a criminal investigation to determine if Mangal improperly accessed the criminal database and whether he knew the information would end up at Kaiser. He has since been on administrative leave, reported the Mercury News.
Kaiser has also terminated several members of its security detail, but the identities of those fired employees have not been made public, said the Mercury News.
