SAN BENITO — Police Chief Michael Galvan’s recordings of conversations have been downloaded from the police department’s computer system.
Now, as many as 500 recordings are “floating” around the city.
City Commissioner Esteban Rodriguez said he is requesting the City Commission discuss Galvan’s recordings of police officers and citizens.
Meanwhile, Galvan is calling for an internal investigation to determine who accessed the recordings from a public computer drive.
“Definitely, if someone broke the law, they’ve got to pay,” Mayor Ben Gomez said yesterday.
“People have got to be held accountable for their actions.”
At City Hall, city spokeswoman Martha McClain declined comment.
“If it did occur, it may be part of an investigation,” she said in a statement.
Rodriguez said as many as 500 telephone and personal recordings of police officers and citizens may be “floating” around town.
“This is something very important to the commission. We need to get to the bottom of it,” Rodriguez said. “I have been called by certain individuals about some tapes floating around. What happens if laws were broken?”
Galvan said he has privately recorded conversations to help bolster police cases.
“I’ve recorded a lot of conversations. All police officers have,” Galvan said. “Any recording is subject to being downloaded in our system.”
Galvan said the person who accessed and distributed the recordings and those who possess them could face felony charges of tampering with evidence.
“That’s going to create an internal investigation,” Galvan said.
Galvan said the department can use the password used to access the recordings to identify the person.
Galvan said a disgruntled officer may have accessed the recordings to try to damage his reputation.
“What is the goal of it?” he asked. “Their objective is to get me out of the way to undo what’s in place. This shows a higher level of desperation. They didn’t like rules. For many years, our policies were outdated. They didn’t like the standards. They want the good old days.”
• Recordings of conversations with police officers and citizens
• 400 to 500 recordings accessed from public computer drive
• Recordings could involve police officer cases and citizen complaints
Federal law permits recording telephone calls and in-person conversations with the consent of at least one of the parties. This is called a “one-party consent” law. Under a one-party consent law, you can record a phone call or conversation so long as you are a party to the conversation.
Texas also has a “one-party consent” law.
“Therefore, if you operate in Texas, you may record a conversation or phone call if you are a party to the conversation or you get permission from one party to the conversation in advance.”
Source: Digital Media Law Project
