For six years, Officer Kelly Chrisman used Los Angeles Police Department computers to look up confidential law enforcement records on celebrities and other high-profile people, including Sharon Stone, Courteney Cox Arquette, Sean Penn and Halle Berry.
Chrisman says he was just carrying out orders from superiors, but a lawsuit recently settled by the city for nearly $400,000 alleged that the officer had accessed the records to sell the information to tabloids.
Now Los Angeles officials are assessing the city's potential liability.
According to internal LAPD documents, between 1994 and 2000 Chrisman tapped computer files on scores of celebrities, including Meg Ryan, Kobe Bryant, O.J. Simpson, Larry King, Drew Barrymore, Dionne Warwick, Farrah Fawcett, Cindy Crawford, Elle Macpherson and Berry Gordy.
The officer does not deny he looked up celebrities in police databases, but says department brass had ordered him to devise a locator map of Westside VIP residences. The LAPD maintains there was no such project and has filed misconduct charges that could result in Chrisman's firing.
The 34-year-old officer has denied that he accessed computer records improperly.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court by Chrisman's former girlfriend, said Chrisman had collected the data for financial gain, but LAPD investigators say they could not pin down a motive.
"We just don't know," said Deputy Chief James McMurray, until recently the chief of internal affairs. "There was all sorts of rumor and speculation."Officials say unauthorized access alone violates department regulations, and no motive needs to be shown.
Whatever the motive, the case prompted worried debate during a closed session of the City Council on March 19, when council members voted unanimously to pay $387,500 to settle the lawsuit. According to sources, the council also directed its staff to study the liability the city might face as a result of unauthorized computer use by Chrisman or possibly by other officers.
The suit by Cyndy Truhan, ex-wife of former Dodger Steve Garvey, alleged that Chrisman had violated her privacy by using LAPD computers to secretly investigate her, as well as hundreds of other people, and that he had made a significant side income by selling the information to tabloids. In settling the suit, the city admitted no wrongdoing by Chrisman or the LAPD.
