St. Louis -- Authorities are investigating Bel-Ridge police Chief Gordon Brock on an allegation that he inappropriately deleted an arrest record from an areawide law enforcement computer database.

Administrators of the Regional Justice Information Service, commonly known as REJIS, said today they suspended Brock's access to crime information after they checked out an anonymous tip received in January.

Paul Newhouse, the general manager of REJIS, said his agency referred the matter to the St. Louis County police for a criminal investigation. County police had no immediate comment.

Newhouse would not provide details, but said Brock had altered a Bel-Ridge arrest record in the recent past. Newhouse said it may have belonged to a relative of another law enforcement official in St. Louis County.

Brock was not available for comment.

Newhouse said a police officer is allowed to modify or delete an arrest record for his own agency, but not any others.

“We count on the basic honesty of the law enforcement agencies,” Newhouse said. “They have an interest in maintaining accurate records.”

Newhouse said REJIS can track each time an officer enters, deletes, accesses or modifies a record .

The fee-based service provides criminal justice information to police and government agencies. Participation is voluntary, although every police department in St. Louis County and most of the surrounding counties use it.