A deputy from Marion County is suspended for three days after being accused of misusing the database to find out the owner of a vehicle sitting outside of her ex-boyfriend’s home.
RELATED STORIES: Carlee Russell Drama Depicted In New Movie: ‘The Nurse That Saw The Baby On The Highway’
In June, Deputy Rikayla Berrien drove by her ex-boyfriend’s home one night and found a vehicle outside the property. Investigators said Berrien was in an on-again-off-again relationship that lasted from February 2022 until earlier this year. The man told her he needed space to think about their relationship since he “met someone new at work,” as reported by ClickOrlando. After driving past his home, Berrien texted her former lover, saying she hoped he was enjoying himself. She called herself foolish for believing that they could continue their relationship. She added that she “knew he would be a good stepfather.”Â
Months later, the Office of Professional Standards received a complaint from Berrien’s ex-boyfriend who believed she had run the vehicle’s license plate number in front of his home. Berrien confessed when asked about the incident and said, “Did I run her tag? I 100% did.”
RELATED STORIES: Jason Momoa Allegedly Showed Up To The Set Of ‘Aquaman 2’ Dressed As Johnny Depp And Attempted To Get Amber Heard Fired
She added that she ran the license plate to find out who was staying over her ex-boyfriend’s house and explained to investigators that her ex-boyfriend was working on their relationship while seeing someone else. Berrien had a previous investigation where she got into a fight at a house party in Ocala while off-duty, but investigators concluded that she acted in self-defense. Another review said she didn’t inform her supervisors about the fight and asked her ex-boyfriend to flag any videos of the altercation on social media.
Berrien was suspended for one day for misusing an electronic database and two days for not reporting the fight.
Running license plates in Florida is a process by which law enforcement officers use specialized equipment to scan license plates and check them against a database of registered vehicles. This database contains information about the vehicle’s owner, registration, insurance, and any outstanding warrants or citations.
Law enforcement officers can run license plates for a variety of reasons, including:
- To check for suspended or revoked registrations
- To verify insurance coverage
- To identify stolen vehicles
- To locate wanted persons
- To gather evidence of criminal activity
Running license plates is legal in Florida, and law enforcement officers do not need a warrant. However, they must reasonably suspect that the vehicle or its occupants are involved in criminal activity before running the plates.