Northern Colorado police department changes policies after IT worker steals child sexual abuse evidence
The Greeley Police Department is changing how it handles sensitive digital evidence following the arrest and eventual sentencing of a former city information technology employee accused of stealing a hard drive containing child sexual abuse material.
The hard drive was being used by the police department as part of investigations into people suspected of creating or possessing sexual images involving children.
Former city IT employee Jacob Schmidt stole the hard drive from the agency. Investigators later discovered he had uploaded explicit photos and videos from the device to his phone.
"Child exploitation is a terrible crime," said Matt Turner, captain at the Weld County Sheriff's Office, which oversaw the investigation.
Turner said the nature of the material makes its handling particularly important.
"One of the things about those materials is that every time they're viewed, that person is being revictimized again, and again and again," Turner said.
Schmidt was arrested by investigators and pleaded guilty in March. A judge sentenced him last week to 14 years in prison.
"So, holding people accountable for those things and making sure they get sentenced appropriately is of the utmost importance. And I think that happened in this case," Turner said.
The case has also prompted questions about how much access IT employees at law enforcement agencies should have to devices containing sensitive or illegal material.
"When you think about evidence that any type of law enforcement organization has, it's actually changed a lot through the years. And the digital wave that we're seeing with evidence is actually very scary," Turner said.
Law enforcement agencies increasingly rely on IT workers to maintain and upgrade systems containing digital evidence.
"And I can speak to our own operation. We rely on our IT workers to help us with that nonstop. And so, the thought of maybe one of our own IT workers doing something like that here is just terrible," Turner said.
Greeley police are now making changes to their operations in response to the case. The department plans to relocate its Internet Crimes Against Children team to a part of the building with additional security. The agency will also ensure that upgrades to systems containing sensitive material are supervised.
Turner said the case reinforces the need for law enforcement agencies to apply the same standards to their own employees as they do to everyone else.
"I think it speaks to law enforcement agencies holding their own accountable. We are not aside from the law, and when someone with our organization violates a law like that, it's necessary to hold them accountable for it," Turner said. "I think that the sentencing of this was appropriate, and I'd like to thank everyone involved."
Greeley police told CBS News Colorado that they will also destroy all devices that age out from their ICAC team.
