Officer helps combat identity theft

GLENDALE — You don’t have to be a politician to help change laws.

Glendale Police Det. Chris Spencer was instrumental in the creation of legislation passed last week that makes identity theft a felony.

Spencer helped Assemblyman Dario Frommer (D-Glendale) craft this new law that will make it a felony offense to steal and sell personal information — a crime that used to be a misdemeanor, Spencer said. Assigning felony status to the crime makes the punishment for it more severe.

The legislation also makes mail theft a state crime, where it used to be only federal. This means that crimes can be prosecuted by local district attorneys instead of only in federal courts, he said.

“It all started when our whole department noticed a problem with mail and identity theft [in Glendale],” Spenser said.

Spencer had a chance to speak with Frommer — who had been a victim of identity theft — and from there the two worked to form a bill that would target the crime.

“What I wanted to know is: What kind of things can we do to help them combat this crime,” Frommer said at a press conference Wednesday.

The crime is a big problem throughout the state, but hits especially hard in Glendale, Spencer said.On average, 125 of every 100,000 people in California are victims of some type of identity theft, he said. In Glendale that average jumps to 250 per 100,000.

Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams also addressed the issue, noting that he had been a victim of financial fraud.

“Its out there, its real, and it can happen to any of us at any time,” Adams said.

With the new legislation making punishment more severe and providing the opportunity for more of these crimes to be prosecuted, the department is ready to take the next step in wiping it out of the community, he said.

“We need to be very diligent, we have to have every tool possible to stay on top of this and eradicate it,” he said.

The police are just happy to have this instrument to aid in the fight against identity theft, and hope it will lead to more prosecutions, Spencer said.

“It’s exciting, this is really the way government is supposed to work,” he said. “We’re very thankful to have been able to get this through.”