Iowa police chief allegedly used police computer to stalk woman, her boyfriend
The police chief in Kingsley, Iowa, is accused of using official police resources to stalk a woman, her boyfriend and her boyfriend's roommate.
Chief James Dunn was taken into custody Wednesday on three counts of falsely obtaining criminal intelligence, one count of non-felonious misconduct in office and one count of stalking, according to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. The Hinton Police Department also investigated the case.
Kingsley, a town of about 1,400 residents, is located in northwest Iowa.
How the Kingsley chief allegedly used police software
According to a criminal complaint, Dunn allegedly accessed information about the three people through Mobile Architecture for Communications Handling, or MACH. It's a software law enforcement uses to communicate during the day and in emergency events, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. It also can find information on people, vehicles and guns and can find driver's license photos from the Iowa DOT.
Dunn allegedly used a Kingsley Police Department computer to run the searches between November 2022 and February 2023. He then allegedly used the information to target the three people.
Between Feb. 2 and Feb. 7, the complaint said, Dunn used the city of Kingsley's stamps and computer equipment to mail and deliver two anonymous letters to the people. These letters were described in the criminal complaint as "annoying and alarming" and had no official police department function or purpose.
Later, Dunn allegedly watched the woman's boyfriend leave her home and, in another instance, followed or physically searched her car.
The woman asked Dunn to stop contacting her or her acquaintances, but three days later he allegedly taped an anonymous letter to her boyfriend's door. Another letter described a restaurant the woman and her boyfriend had been to together. Dunn later allegedly contacted the woman's mother.
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Police chief's hearing scheduled in February
A temporary no contact order has been issued against Dunn. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 27 at the Plymouth County Courthouse. He is being held on a $15,000 bond.
Kingsley Mayor Iowa Rick Bohle told the Des Moines Register that Dunn has not been terminated "but probably will be."
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Noelle Alviz-Gransee is a breaking news reporter at the Des Moines Register. Follow her on Twitter @NoelleHannika or email her at NAlvizGransee@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Kingsley, Iowa police chief allegedly used computer to stalk woman
