
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 15, 1994                   TAG: 9409150069
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY METRO 
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

TECH POLICE INVESTIGATE EMPLOYEE

Virginia Tech police are investigating an employee who resigned after police were told he had copied department computer files and taken them home.

Paul K. Hubbard, a technical services coordinator with the department, is suspected of the unauthorized possession of criminal history information and other department records, according to a search warrant filed in the Montgomery County Clerk's Office.

But Hubbard said Wednesday that he had the copies made last month as backups in the event the original files were destroyed by fire or other accidental means.

"I was concerned about the fact that our files were unprotected," Hubbard said.

Hubbard said the department now has made provisions to protect the files.

People found to have unauthorized possession of criminal history and record information can be charged with a misdemeanor.

An investigation is continuing and no charges have been filed, Chief Mike Jones said. Hubbard resigned several hours before the search warrant was served, Jones said.

No one is allowed to have possession of these records except sworn officers who are continuing their specific duties, such as investigating a case or preparing for court, Jones said.

As technical services coordinator, Hubbard was overseeing the department's efforts to gain national accreditation as a professional law enforcement agency.

"He was not working in any section that had anything to do with criminal records," Jones said.

According to the search warrant, Sgt. Jerry Olinger learned last Thursday that Hubbard had computer tapes and disks at his home that contained "all criminal history records of the Virginia Tech Police Department."

The search warrant states that Allison Cumbee, a program support technician and records supervisor with Tech Police, told Olinger that on Aug. 26 Hubbard "requested her to make him computer tapes of all records of the Virginia Tech Police Department including all criminal history and information. Mr. Hubbard told Ms. Cumbee he was going to take these tapes home to his residence."

Several computer tapes and disks were removed from Hubbard's Horseshoe Lane home after the search warrant was served last Thursday, including a hard drive recorded on Aug. 26.

by CNB