Officers can check vehicle registrations and identifications while out on the road. Mr Hanson is one of the few people to have individually accessed intelligence data stored in the NSW Police Force's Computerised Operational Policing System (COPS) – and have it removed. It follows a class action last year in which NSW Police agreed to pay $1.85 million to scores of young people who were wrongfully arrested, imprisoned and in some cases strip-searched due to serious errors in the same COPS database. NSW Council for Civil Liberties president Stephen Blanks said the latest case demonstrates how easily unfounded and unchecked intelligence can be collated, stored and used to the detriment of innocent people. "These database entries provide a platform for police to pull in someone, anyone, as and when they wish," said Mr Blanks. "Without any due court process and without any charges having ever been laid, this is the kind of power that is ripe for abuse."

The former officer in his police uniform. In July last year, Mr Hanson, himself a former NSW police officer, drove his wife and their two foster children, aged four and six, to Pyrmont for a family christening. Unsure of the address, he passed the Star casino and then pulled into a parking bay and made a call to check he was in the right location. However, just as he was about to collect a ticket, two male police officers approached his vehicle and ordered him to reverse onto the road. According to the officer's report summary, Mr Hanson's car was stopped because it had been seen in the vicinity of several sports cars and motorbikes parked on Darling Drive. He, in turn, said they wrongly accused him of driving a "hotted up car" and acting "suspiciously". After explaining he was a former police officer merely looking for the right place to park, Mr Hanson blew a negative breath test and was allowed to leave. However, from that day, he felt like a "marked man" with his vehicle repeatedly detained. It was during one of these incidents that an officer questioned why his vehicle was "associated" with the Comancheros, stating: "This isn't good mate, you should have this removed." When Mr Hanson canvassed senior police about the revelation, the force's Professional Standards chief inspector Gregory Jewiss confirmed that the constable had generated an "entity link" containing unconfirmed information but said there was no evidence to suggest "any malicious intent" had been involved in its creation. He added the officer would be spoken with to ensure his "knowledge" was "improved" and such linkages were "not made again".

Without any due court process and without any charges having ever been laid, this is the kind of power that is ripe for abuse. NSW Council for Civil Liberties president Stephen Blanks While Inspector Jewiss would not disclose the report's actual contents, he assured Mr Hanson: "I can confidently state there are no records in COPS or other NSW Police systems that directly link you or your vehicle to the Comanchero OMCG". When Mr Hanson finally laid his hands on the report, he found that not only had it tarred him as a person of interest possibly associating with the Comancheros, it had been assessed and then forwarded to the State Crime Command's gangs squad, the organised crime squad and the Australian Crime Commission. In a complaint to the NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione​, he said: "I am a total loss to explain how police could verify such false, misleading and adverse information, just because my car was allegedly observed in the same street as known criminals." A NSW Police spokesman said the matter had been reviewed and the appropriate action taken to amend the record. "Intelligence reports are an integral part of policing and can be created from a variety of sources," he said, adding: "The information is not solely relied upon to initiate formal charges but in the vast majority of cases, when combined, they are vital in guiding police operations and investigations."

Last year, a COPS database forum was held by the NSW Council for Civil Liberties. It highlighted a number of recent cases, including last year's class action payout and a separate situation involving a woman listed on the database as having refused to co-operate with police. However, the entry had failed to record the fact that she had been unconscious at the time. The forum found that while entries in the database can result in extra police attention, it is "highly unlikely" that people would ever obtain intelligence reports and there is no entitlement to amendment of the database. However, after two separate Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearings over the past year, Mr Hanson not only won the right to have all related information released, but also to have all traces of the listing scrubbed. Mr Blanks said: "Here was a man who, as as former copper himself, had the resources, the ability and the necessary knowledge to follow this through and expose what had actually happened. But most people caught up in this aren't in that position. And there would be many." Police accountability lawyer David Porter, who spoke at the forum, said: "These cases are happening more ... but because they [police] hide behind public interest considerations so often, it really does need that rare case to come along and highlight some of the broader issues."

He said that, as with most issues surrounding "police accountability", the first step was "proving" the problem. "While the State Crime Command would insist there is a whole team of dedicated intelligence analysts who rigorously check the reliability and importance of all intel reports ... the sheer amount of data that is collected, and which qualifies as intel, means there is always a backlog – and they are never applying a proper level of security to it. And if anyone tries to argue against it, the standard response is 'Well, you would say that wouldn't you?'" * Not his real name. Do you know more? eduff@fairfaxmedia.com.au WHAT IS COPS?

Name: Computerised Operational Policing System Launched: 1994 What is it? A NSW Police database that records all information related to offenders, victims and incidents involving police action What is it used for? Issuing charges, registering criminal incidents, accumulation of intelligence