The Portsmouth Police Department doesn’t deny it placed a recording device in its records room – without proper notification – to eavesdrop on its clerks. It’s just that neither the police nor County Attorney Jim Reams believe any laws were broken.
But the more we think about the official explanation for these improper recordings the less sense they seem to make.
For those of you who missed the story, The Portsmouth Herald revealed this week that for four or five months a microphone recorded – and transmitted in real time – the conversations of civilian employees working inside the police department’s records office without their knowledge.
When the workers discovered the recording device and complained, police brass asked Reams to review a Portsmouth Police Department internal investigation to determine if any crime was committed.
Read more of the editorial on Nashua Telegraph.