ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Common Sense About Police Taping

Who, if anyone, has been at the listening post in Laguna Beach?

Seven Police Department employees, alleging violation of their rights, filed a $10,000 claim against the city on the ground that their personal conversations were taped improperly; the city promptly rejected the claim. In April, the district attorney found insufficient evidence of criminal conduct to file charges.

The controversy, which is still being sorted out, surrounds a taping system that police say now has been removed.

In January, workers learned that their idle conversations, including things they might have said about their bosses, had been recorded, apparently even after the telephone conversations ended.

Was this simply a case of faulty equipment or of real snooping? The police union says it has evidence of eavesdropping for years. Police officials say the problem began with the installation a year ago of a new telephone system that had “a glitch.” Chief Neil J. Purcell says he has apologized and that the matter should be put to rest.

A few simple principles should be affirmed. First, a police department needs to have a recording system that works as intended. Second, the rules of recording need to be promulgated by top officials and understood by all. Finally, there’s the matter of common sense for employees: In a busy police station, records of conversations between law enforcement personnel and the public are a fact of life. The station is not exactly a quiet booth in a coffee shop.