A Lake Macquarie police sergeant has admitted to accessing restricted data to pass information to a former colleague about an ongoing domestic violence investigation into him.
Sergeant Shannon Daniel Cooper, 47, appeared in Belmont Local Court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to the unauthorised access of restricted information in the police computer system, known as COPS.
Cooper was charged in March after an internal investigation into his use of the database and a series of text messages and calls to a former colleague in September last year.
According to an agreed statement of facts filed on Wednesday, police launched an investigation into a former officer in September after receiving a call about a domestic violence incident.
Police searched the man's home and allegedly found a replica pistol and a police hat.
The next day, the former police officer's partner attended a police station and reported a series of domestic and family violence allegations, including an allegation of sexual intercourse without consent, according to court documents.
Police in Lake Macquarie and Newcastle created separate events on the COPS system for the investigations.
A few days later, another police officer became aware of a series of text messages, which indicated Sergeant Cooper had unlawfully accessed the COPS database and communicated the sensitive investigative information to his friend and former colleague.
Police conducted an audit of the COPS system and found Sergeant Cooper had accessed the events in relation to his former colleague six times on the day after police searched his home.
"There is no lawful reason why the offender should have accessed the events in question, particularly given his close friendship with [the former police officer]," prosecutors said in court documents.
Police analysed Sergeant Cooper's call charge records and found at least 150 text messages and 10 phone calls between the pair over a six-day period following the initial police search.
Investigators seized Sergeant Cooper's phone in November and found a series of text messages, including the 47-year-old telling his friend he was looking at the COPS entry.
"I just snuck a look at the event," the message reads. "Reads well in your favour mate, albeit they kept it respectful towards her."
Later that day, Sergeant Cooper took another look at the COPS event.
"Just had a look," he said. "It's in its infancy unfortunately.
"No narrative.
"Just the incident with you as a suspect."
His former colleague wanted to know if it was just one incident and whether it was recent, and Sergeant Cooper replied: "Intimidation, a telephone offence and a sexual offence".
"The text message exchange, along with the COPS audit shows the offender's unlawful access to the COPS system and the dissemination of the information set out above to [the former police officer]," prosecutors said.
COPS is the primary database for the storage of information by police, but sworn officers are routinely warned that the information cannot be accessed for personal reasons and cannot be disclosed.
The 47-year-old police sergeant will be sentenced in August.
