Calls to City Hall recorded

Phone calls to Bellevue's City Hall are recorded, without the knowledge of the callers or city employees.

The city administrator said the practice is important for safety and security, but some experts question whether the recording is legal.

The phone calls in the City Hall and City Hall Annex are digitally collected through the telephone system installed last year, said City Administrator Gary Troutman.

The city has the capability to retrieve and listen to calls coming into and going out of the Mayor's Office, City Administrator's Office, City Clerk's Office, Planning Department, Finance Department and Public Works Department, among others.

Troutman said the decision to record the calls was made by him, Police Chief John Stacey and Communications Director Steve Betts, with the advice of City Attorney Pat Sullivan's office.

Troutman said the system is in place in case a threat is called in to any office. He added that he has never listened to a recording of any call.

Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov said the point is not whether anyone listens to the recordings.

“You can record lines in Nebraska in business, but you have to give some kind of notice,” Polikov said.

He said his best legal advice would be for both parties on a phone call to be advised the call is being recorded.

“It wouldn't be a sufficient defense to say ‘We recorded it, but we don't listen to it. Trust us,'” Polikov said.

He added: “The ownership of the line, who's paying for the phone, is not an issue, in my estimation.”

Polikov said he would need an official complaint to review the matter.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said he would have to research the matter before giving a legal opinion, but he called the Bellevue phone practice “at least questionable.”

“I certainly think there is an issue there, whether they have the authority,” Kleine said. “I would question whether they do.”

He said the recording of conversations is akin to a wiretap.

“You have to get court authority to record and listen to conversations, unless you have consent or put people on notice that you are doing so,” Kleine said.

City employee Chris Petit, who has worked as information technology manager for nearly 16 years, said Saturday that he was appalled to hear that phone calls were being recorded. He said he had had suspicions about the recording of his phone line.

Petit said he was concerned for employees as well as citizens who call the city.

Troutman said calls to the Police Department and Fire Department are recorded — and had been recorded prior to the installation of the new phone system — for investigative purposes.

Omaha attorney John Corrigan, who has represented Bellevue employees in litigation against that city and has given advice to Bellevue union officials, said the city should have notified all employees whose calls were subject to recording.

“If the employees were never informed that their calls were being recorded, they would have no reason to question whether they should talk about privileged matters over the telephone with anybody, not just me,” Corrigan said.

“If they didn't tell the employees that their phone calls were being recorded,” he said, “then I do have a problem with that.”

Omaha attorney Ray Aranza, who has expertise in employment and labor law, said generally if employees have an expectation of privacy, their conversations would be protected. He said employers should make employees aware that the conversations can be recorded.

Businesses often make a recording that informs callers the call may be recorded, giving the caller the option of hanging up, Aranza noted.

Sullivan, the city attorney, declined to talk about the Bellevue phone system, saying another attorney in his office, Michael Polk, researched the matter.

Polk said the phone system is no different from an employer having access to e-mail.

He said the phone system digitizes communications. For anyone to pull out the information, he said, takes some effort.

“Nobody is actively monitoring people's phone calls,” Polk said. “There is no eavesdropping on people's phone calls. ... The digital system in Bellevue is not like slipping a tape recorder in an employee's office.”

Polk added: “I would guarantee that better than 90 percent of the employees that walk in the city of Bellevue carry a cell phone. If they're going to conduct some business that is outside of their job description, you would expect them to use their own phone or their own private e-mail account.”

Bellevue Councilwoman Carol Blood said the recording practice raises “grave concerns.”

Councilman Steve Knutson said he thought employees knew about the recording feature in the phone system. He called it a useful tool for the city to use in the case of threats.

“I didn't think it was a bad thing,” Knutson said.

Knutson said he has never listened to any calls.

“I have no need to,” he said.

Contact the writer:

444-1022, katie.fretland@owh.com

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