Investigation finds Etna trustee logged into security camera system more than 100 times in a month

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to clarify the amount of activity in the system from Trustee Mark Evans. 

An independent investigator found an Etna Township Trustee did more than 400 activities within the township's security system before it was deactivated in October.

Kevin Wolfe, a loss prevention executive with the Westerville-based private investigations firm WhereWolfe Intelligence, shared his findings about Trustee Mark Evans' access of the system during a trustee meeting Dec. 6.

Wolfe said he was asked to complete a forensics examination of the township's network video recorder, or NVR, on Oct. 26 by Trustee Rozland McKee and the system was placed in his possession. McKee and fellow Trustee Jeff Johnson approved contracting with WhereWolfe Intelligence during the Nov. 1 meeting. Evans voted against the $500 contract.

The township paid $9,260 to install the security camera system in September. It was disabled a month later.

Wolfe said he contacted both the original company that installed the cameras, Security Operations Systems Inc., and the township's information technology company, Dynamic Networks, as part of his investigation. Rob Blevins, with Security Operations Systems, provided the password to Wolfe so he could access the system. Wolfe said he asked Blevins who else held the password. Blevins said Evans had it, and provided documentation that Evans had asked for the password numerous times.

According to text messages exchanged between Blevins and Evans, Evans asked if there would be remote access to the system and Blevins replied "yes." Evans asked to be included in that remote access. Blevins responded he believed access would be available to the two of them and the IT company. According to a copy of the text messages provided to the Advocate, Evans said all trustees should have access.

As part of the investigation, Wolfe said he learned the security camera system was not on the township's IT network.

The password alone doesn't give access and the systems serial number is also required, Wolfe said. To gain remote access, a person must scan a QR code from the unit itself. Then by using the password the system can be accessed remotely.

Wolfe said he asked Blevins if he labeled the systems 12 cameras, and Blevins said he did not and that Evans must have been the one who labeled them. Evans previously told the Advocate he did in fact name the cameras.

One of McKee's main concerns has been if the cameras were recording audio. Wolfe said he does not believe they were.

"These cameras are designed in a manner and fashion that you can either turn the audio on or turn the audio off. In this case, it's my belief that the audio was turned off and I'll explain. But these cameras do have the ability to have the audio turned on," Wolfe said.

Wolfe said he can't conclude if the audio was off on all 12 cameras. He confirmed it was off on at least one of the cameras inside the main meeting room when he watched the footage.

For the rest of the cameras, Wolfe said he was locked out.

"It would not let me go and talk to each individual camera and see if it was enabled with regards to audio," he said.

Later in the meeting, Evans said the system did not have audio enabled.

Wolfe said he pulled the activity log to see who was in the system and what they looked at when they were in it. The log had more than 550 activities listed from when it went live to when it was disabled on Oct. 19. Security Operations Systems appears in the log 36 times, and another 77 log entries were from Wolfe's company. The other 446 activities were from Evans, Wolf said.

Evans logged into the system 140 times, Wolfe said. Blevins was in and out of the system four times, and WhereWolfe Intelligence had 12 log-ins and log-outs.

Evans said previously, and reiterated later in the meeting, that he logged to get familiar with the mobile app and set up the system.

When Evans was in the system, Wolfe said he was viewing four cameras on a consistent basis: the outdoor entrance, one in the hallway and two in main meeting room of the hall.

On Oct. 15, Wolfe said Evans spent about 21 minutes in the system. Evans logged in and out multiple times on Oct. 16, but there was really no activity from him on that day. There was two minutes of activity on Oct. 18. But there was more than an hour of activity on Oct. 19, Wolfe said. The entrance camera was accessed for 31 minutes and the three cameras inside the hall were accessed for 19 minutes. Later in the day, Wolfe said the three cameras inside the hall were accessed again for another 23 minutes.

The only activity in the system, Wolfe said, was play back, play forward and stop.

Wolfe concluded his overview of the report by sharing that in his professional opinion, the township should do the following: place the system behind the township's firewall, confirm audio hasn't been enabled, and evaluate the purpose of the system and who has access to it.

When asked by Johnson where the system is now, Wolfe said he no longer has it and the property receipt is in the hands of McKee.

Later in the discussion, Evans pushed the matter further. McKee would not say where the NVR system currently is, only that it is secure. She said if people believe it is stolen, they can file a theft report.

McKee motioned to forward the report to the Licking County Prosecutor's Office and Evans seconded, adding they should have been the entity to investigate the matter in the first place. The motion was unanimously approved.

After the vote, Fiscal Officer Julie Varian asked when the system would be returned.

McKee responded, "I think you forget you're a fiscal officer. We're the board and you need to stay in your place."

The board took more action regarding the cameras at another point in the meeting. McKee and Johnson approved a security camera policy that establish guidelines for the use of the cameras and remote monitoring systems. The policy was created at the suggestion of the township's counsel, Brosius, Johnson & Griggs, LLC.

Evans, who voted against the resolution, said it would keep information from him and impact his duties.

A senior associate with the firm, Julie Donnan, who called into the meeting because she was sick, said the policy will not prevent anyone from having access to or receiving public records.

"It provides policies through which it will be governed. So that way, everyone is on the same page in terms of process and features a point person to prevent unauthorized access or improper uses but it does not prevent access and someone or anyone from being able to perform their duties," she said. "It lays out the ground rules."

McKee and Johnson also approved contracting with State Security for $920. McKee said they'll do further investigation of the camera system to determine if audio was enabled and recorded.

Evans said it was unnecessary spending and instead the prosecutor's office should be the one handling the matter.

"This just seems like a witch hunt," Evans said. "Again, I'm all for all the information being out there and I'm waiting for someone to talk to me so I can provide them information."

mdevito@gannett.com

740-607-2175

Twitter: @MariaDeVito13

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Investigation finds Etna trustee did 446 activities in security system