SOUTH BEND — A 15-year battle to release tapes related to alleged racist comments and discussion of illegal activity by South Bend Police Department officers has all but come to an end Thursday, May 28 as the St. Joseph County Superior Court ruled that the recordings were obtained illegally.
The court ruled that the tapes violate the Indiana Wiretap Act as well as the Federal Wiretap Act and must be destroyed. The order says, however, that the tapes must be preserved until all “appeals are exhausted.”
The South Bend Common Council had sued the city’s administration for release of the files and won in 2020, but continuing appeals barred the council from being able to do so. The 2026 order disqualifies the tapes from disclosure by the city or the Common Council.
According to the court order, a general order by the SBPD Office of Professional Standards states employees do not have a right to privacy on assigned equipment, though this order is contrary to the longstanding practice of the department. According to the order, the practice of the department is that the Chief of Police can start and stop recording an officer’s line by request, but that no officers’ line shall be recorded without their knowledge.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Judge rules South Bend police tapes made illegally, must be destroyed
Reporting by Juliane Balog , South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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