LEADS ''Warrant Hit'' problem solved for Miami Valley CHL-holders

On May 11, an OFCC Team Leader and Ohio CHL-holder was detained by a Kettering Police officer, who had run his license number through his Law Enforcement Automated Database (LEADS) computer, and was subsequently advised the licenseholder had an outstanding warrant.

In the LEADS system, when a warrant comes up on the screen, it begins flashing and beeping to get the officers attention.

After discovering that the "Warrant Hit" was actually only indicating a Concealed Handgun License, the officer apologized for the inconvenience and left.

Since that time, Ohioans For Concealed Carry began receiving and tracking additional reports of licensees being stopped by local law enforcement investigating a "Warrant Hit" when they ran a random check of the licenseholders' plate. Most reports seemed to have been originating from the Montgomery County area, surrounding Dayton.

We are now pleased to report that the situation has been remedied.

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At first, because this problem only manifested itself in this general area, it was suspected that the problem was a LEADS entry error created at the Sheriffs' offices. However, inquiries with various Sheriffs offices ruled out the possibility of an entry error.

Dayton attorney and OFCC supporter J. David Ruffner II then began communications with law enforcement authorities in one municipality in which CHL-holder had experienced the problem. In his initial conversations, the problem was identified as being caused by MDT software (written by Aether Technologies) interfacing with LEADS hardware.

On June 25, he sent the following communication to Captain Walter S. Conroy, Oakwood Public Safety Department:

If the name is showing up with an Ohio Warrant notice, then clearly there is a problem that must be fixed immediately. Any detention of a citizen otherwise obeying the law based on an invalid warrant is a Fourth Amendment violation.

We now know that the listing of a warrant on the LEADS MDT is erroneous; whether there is a warrant or not does not matter if the practical effect is an unlawful detention. As you know from the OAC, this must be reported in writing to the CTO appointed by Colonel McClellan of the Ohio State Highway Patrol as soon as possible, along with the plan of remediation.

The fact that this is a mere software glitch from Aether means that it is able to be fixed sooner than later rather than waiting for the next version update. Inaccurate information such as this on LEADS is going to put police officers in any jurisdiction in needless danger. This is not merely a training issue, it is an error. Now that Aether knows of this, their company has tremendous liability as well if something further happens.

In addition, I encourage you to review OAC 4501:2-10-11, which could eventually result in sanctions and loss of the terminal agency's access to LEADS in extreme cases on non-remediation.

Later that same day, Conroy responded:

In regards to our 2:20 phone conversation, I have just left a 4 minute detailed voice mail message for Major Stephen Friday of the Ohio State Highway Patrol LEADS Commission.

Major Friday is the CTO and has been briefed by message about the problem with our MDT software written by Aether Technology. I asked for a return call on Monday and will follow up at that time.

Ruffner responded:

Hopefully, the Ohio State Highway Patrol will lend some clout to dealing with the Aether software issue and will respond to you very soon. If we cannot get Aether to respond and fix this in a reasonable time, a declaratory action seeking a writ of mandamus to correct the LEADS system is the necessary next step, which essentially commands the LEADS administrators to perform their ministerial duties in accordance with the law, specifically the Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 4501:2. That is not something that I want, but this is a serious issue that must rectified with all due speed.

On July 9, Ruffner received notification from the Oakwood Police Department that the Ohio State Highway Patrol LEADS Commission had fixed the problem:

Upon returning to work this morning (I have been off since 7-2-04), I found that your problem has been rectified. Here is a copy of a notice I just found in my Inbox:
"The problem with an announcement being generated indicating a Warrant Hit on an inquiry where an individual has a Concealed Weapons Permit has been fixed.

There will no longer be an announcement unless the individual actually has a warrant.

The response from LEADS correctly shows an entry in the response tree and the response itself indicates the following: MKE/ CONCEAL WEAPON PERMIT - PERMANENT (the word "PERMANENT" may not be present).

Andrew Hittle
Kettering Police Dept.
3600 Shroyer Road
Kettering, Ohio 45429"

Thank you and I have copied OSP on the fact that it has been corrected. If you have anything further, please contact me.

Captain Walter S. Conroy
Oakwood Public Safety Department

Ruffner replied one last time to extend his thanks.

Captain Conroy,

I thank you very much for all of your assistance. This is great news. I may call next week and have the Oakwood Safety Department run the two plates on our automobiles off of a LEADS MDT to double check.

Please accept my sincere gratitude for your help and professionalism. You deserve a commendation for putting up with my queries and resolving this issue. I have always praised the training and helpfulness of your officers, and I shall continue to do so. They have been great on all matters, including this one. Officer Hall was very helpful and polite.

I believe this was purely a LEADS issue and error. I do not agree with Major Friday of OSHP that this was not a LEADS problem and was merely an Aether software problem; if the MDT and Aether software is used to interface with LEADS, then by definition they are part of LEADS, which is a "system" for purposes of the Ohio Administrative Code. Fortunately, it has been resolved.

Please contact me anytime if you have any questions or need to follow up on anything. Thanks again for your help and the great service of your department.

David

J. David Ruffner II
Chernesky, Heyman & Kress P.L.L.
Dayton, Ohio 45402
[email protected]

Ruffner now reports that in fact the system has since been tested, that the Aether software problem is fixed, and the LEADS system is no longer reporting "warrant hits" in the 7 agency jurisdiction that shares the Aether uplink hub to MDTs from Montgomery County Sheriff's Department. The goal now is to determine whether the fix was effective statewide, says Ruffner:

The MDT uplink field problem is fixed
here in this shared jurisdiction system, but even if Aether is used statewide for the MDT communications, I don't know if the Aether fix is statewide. Aether may have only sent a updated version to this southwestern jurisdiction and not to others around the state.

In the future, when a CHL-holder's license plates are run on an MDT (not on the land-line, hard-wired LEADS system at the station, since it apparently was a field conversion problem with the Aether software used for MDTs), the results should have a field notation that states that the person is CHL (usually designated on the screen as "CCW"). There should NOT be a warrant hit merely because of the CHL notation.

The problem was that the warrant field on the MDT was erroneously "positive" (warrant hit) to let the officer know that there
was a CHL status for the titled vehicle's owner, but the "lift" code (telling the type or nature of the warrant) was blank.

If a CHL-holder finds that an MDT erroneously lists his vehicle's
registration as a warrant hit without a lift code and the person has no
other legitimate outstanding warrants, then the reason is probably due
to the Aether error. That person should contact the OFCC immediately, and we will work to get the MDT software correction made effective statewide.

OFCC wishes to thank Mr. Ruffner for his hard work on this matter, and we urge any further reports of problems in other areas of the state be sent to [email protected]